Maybe the 3 Wise Men Were Onto Something

The extract from a tree in the fabled myrrh family is being investigated by researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine for properties that may lower cholesterol.

Dr. Philippe Szapary, assistant professor of Medicine at the University, is in the midst of a study of the dietary supplement gugulipid, an extract from the gummy resin of the thorny mukul myrrh bush of western India that has recently made its way into American health-food stores.

• In the Christian tradition, a form of sweet-scented myrrh was presented by the three wise men to the infant Jesus.

• Mukul myrrh, specifically, has a 2,000-year history in traditional Indian medicine. Ayurvedic health practitioners, use the resin extract in treating atherosclerosis, obesity, and arthritis.

• In the 1960s and '70s, scientists were able to identify two properties of the myrrh extract, which, combined, they named gugulipid - that appeared to aid in lowering cholesterol.

"This is something that's been around for thousands of years, and when some scientists looked into it, they actually found a scientific basis for its effectiveness," said Dr. Szapary.

His work has been recognized by the U.S. National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM), which recently awarded him a five-year research grant of about $150,000 for each year.

His work currently underway with gugulipid, is designed to assess the drug through a simple, randomized study using 90 subjects.Participants are divided into three groups; the first is administered a placebo, the second a standard dosage of gugulipid, and the third a higher dosage of the supplement. Each participant remains on the regimen for two months while blood tests indicate its effectiveness.

A portion of the funding for the study is coming from the Sabinsa Corp., a manufacturer of gugulipid, to which Dr. Szapary says he has no financial interest in.

NewsRx.com - November 3, 2000