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NEW DELHI, INDIA, August 3, 2008: The extract of a herb used for centuries in traditional Indian Ayurvedic medicine can reduce symptoms of osteoarthritis, the most common inflammatory joint disease, a group of Indian and American scientists has claimed. A clinical trial conducted by Siba Raychaudhuri from the University of California, Davis, and her co-workers in India has shown that the extract of the plant,Boswellia serrata, can reduce pain and significantly improve knee joint function.

Raychaudhuri and her colleagues have described their study as the first to evaluate the efficacy of the extract enriched with a form of boswellic acid on osteaoarthritis. They conducted a double-blind, placebo-controlled study, a rigorous clinical trial in which neither doctors nor patients know whos receiving the drug and whos receiving a placebo on 70 patients with mild and moderate arthritis.

The extract led to statistically significant improvements in pain and joint function, in some cases providing relief within seven days, the researchers said, describing their results in the journal Arthritis Research & Therapy.

The high incidence of adverse effects associated with currently available medications (for arthritis) has created great interest in the search for an effective and safe alternative treatment, Raychaudhuri said.

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