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