The symptoms of arthritis can be eased by a herb known as ‘indian frankincense’ , recent research has suggested.

The herb extract ‘boswellia serrata’ is best known as a gift from the three kings in Christian nativity and has been used in Ayurvedic medicine for thousands of years. People who received the herb in tests reported increased movement, pain reduction and less stiffness.

The most common form of arthritis is osteoarthritis and conventional treatments have many adverse side-effects. An alternative natural therapy has been sought for many years and the recent report in the Arthritis Research and Therapy journal suggests ‘indian frankincense’ may be a suitable complementary and alternative option.

Of the 70 patients taking part in the trial some with severe arthritis in the knee were given low-dose capsules, some the higher dose capsule with the remainder given a dummy pill with no active ingredients.

In seven days the patients taking the frankincense drug reported improvements in their knee pain and stiffness levels compared with the dummy pill placebo group. This continued up to the 90-day mark at which point the study ended.

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