Essential Oils

Frankincense (Boswellia carteri)

 

 

I had a wonderful time Wednesday night at the monthly essential oil discussion group.  The talk was about Frankincense.  Order your Frankincense here.

Years ago, I remember viewing a National Geographic magazine that showed a satellite view of the Frankincense trail.  Frankincense was valued more than gold, silk, or gems in ancient times and caravans of camels would travel the trade routes carrying Frankincense, Myrrh, herbs and spices.  Frankincense was used by the Greek and Roman physicians in the treatment of a great variety of diseases.  Frankincense remedies appear in texts from the Syriac Book of Medicine, ancient Muslim texts, and in Ayurvedic and Chinese medical writings.

Frankincense is in Burseraceae family which includes other essential oils such as Myrrh.  Shirley Price lists the following properties for this family in her book Aromatherapy for Health Professionals:  “…The family has cicatrizant (promoting formation of scar tissue and healing) properties, indicating their use for scar tissue, ulcers and wounds.  They are also expectorant, and useful in catarrhal conditions.  Boswellia carteri (frankincense) is also indicated in the treatment of depression, immune system deficiency and perhaps cancer…” Shirley Price also observed “…olibanum (another name for frankincense) distilled oils were tested at 10% and 100% concentrations against Staphylococcus aureus, Sarcina luten, Mycobacterium phlei, Bacillus subtilis, Escherichia coli and Neisseria catarrhalis and all were found to be inhibited to some extent by the undiluted oil…”    Shirley Price goes on to list other  properties of frankincense as analgesic (pain-relieving), antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant (combats aging process), energizing, expectorant, immunostimulant, cicatrizant, antioxidant, antiinfectious, antidepressive, anticatarrhal (indicated for asthma, bronchitis), and antibacterial.

Some essential oils have very profound results on the human psyche, Frankincense being one of those essential oils.  Frankincense helps deepen and slow the breath, opens the 3^rd eye and keeps you grounded while meditating.  The sesquiterpenes in Frankincense help increase oxygenation to the brain which in turn can stimulate the limbic system of the brain as well as the hypothalamus, pineal and pituitary glands.  By increasing oxygen to the brain, Frankincense may help remove brain fog and alleviate headaches.  A group of scientists describe how Frankincense activates ion channels in the brain to alleviate anxiety or depression.  They found that incensole acetate, a Boswellia resin constituent, when tested in mice lowers anxiety and causes antidepressive-like behavior. http://pubs.acs.org/cen/whatstuff/86/8651sci2.html

There are several studies on Frankincense and cancer that are listed on www.pubmed.com.  The following was posted at pubmed.com “…Boswellic acid acetate induces differentiation and apoptosis in highly metastatic melanoma and fibrosarcoma cells…”  “…BC-4 is a good candidate for the prevention of primary tumor, invasion and metastasis…”

Did anyone else read the following story about Chili, a Thoroughbred and champion jumper that was diagnosed with multi-centric malignant melanomas?  The doctors were using injections of Frankincense in the tumors. http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/37299.php

Here is an excerpt of the article “…That experimental therapy involved the use of frankincense oil, a compound known as a valuable treatment for wounds for more than 2,000 years, and one people are reminded of every Christmas when they recall the Gifts of the Magi that were brought to the Christ-child.

Frankincense oil is a fragrant botanical oil distillate made from fermented plants, explains Robertson, who adds that it contains hundreds of constituents, including boswellic acid, a component that is known to have anti-neoplastic properties. Scientists have demonstrated that the oil has potent anti-inflammatory effects and anti-tumor properties when evaluated in tissue culture with tumors such as astrocytomas, melanomas, and fibrosarcomas. Furthermore, it appears to have fairly selective anti-tumor activity and does not appear to disrupt normal cells. But much about how it affects actual cancer patients is unknown.

Chili’s experimental protocol involved daily injections of medicinal grade, sterile frankincense oil directly into his tumors, plus application of oil on his topical tumors. Throughout the experiment, Chili’s comfort and well-being was carefully maintained through pain and nutritional management, including copious amounts of his favorite peeled baby carrots and peppermints.

The lesions were observed, measured, photographed, and periodically biopsied, according to Robertson. Those tumor biopsies demonstrated that some small tumor cells were destroyed by the treatment and those treated topically were reduced in size. Unfortunately, however, Chili passed away on Oct. 18, 2005 as a result of the progressive and relentless growth of the non-treated tumors…”

Some of the active compounds in Frankincense are terpenoids, which contains the boswellic acids.  Studies have shown that the boswellic acids have an anti-inflammatory action similar to NSAIDS (nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs) used by many for inflammatory conditions.  Boswellia inhibits pro-inflammatory mediators in the body, such as leukotrienes.   (According to Wikipedia.org – leukotirnes are naturally produced lipid mediators, which may be responsible for the effects of an inflammatory response. Leukotrienes are produced in the body from arachidonic acid by the enzyme 5-lipoxygenase. Their production by the body is part of a complex response that usually includes the production of histamine).

 I remember reading an article in the Aspectarian magazine about research being conducted on the Boswellic acids in Frankincense and how the boswellia acids show promise in inhibiting an enzyme, 5-lipoxygenase which causes inflammation.  There are several studies posted at pubmed that I recommend checking out such as the following: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez

·         “…Anti-inflammatory activities of the triterpene acids from the resin of Boswellia carteri …”

·         “…Boswellia resin has been used as a major anti-inflammatory agent and for the healing of wounds for centuries. Incensole acetate (IA), isolated from this resin, was shown to inhibit the activation of nuclear factor-kappaB, a key transcription factor in the inflammatory response…”

·         “…Anti-inflammatory activity of resins from some species the plant family Burseraceae significantly reduced joint swelling…”

·         “…Boswellic acids as the active principle in treatment of chronic inflammatory disease.  Boswellic acids inhibit the leukotriene biosynthsis, inhibits 5-lipoxygenase.  Shows promising results with rheumatoid arthritis, chronic colitis, ulcerative colitis, Crohn’s disease, bronchial asthma…”

There are so many uses for Frankincense.  I can see why it was used as a cure-all for all diseases in ancient times and I am glad we are rediscovering its’ wonderful properties today.