Incense can alleviate anxiety, depression
Published: May 22, 2008 at 1:40 PM
BALTIMORE, May 22 (UPI) -- Religious leaders contend burning incense
is good for the soul, but U.S. and Israeli researchers say it can be
good for the brain as well.
An international team of scientists, including researchers from Johns
Hopkins University and the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, describe
how burning frankincense -- resin from the Boswellia plant --
activates poorly understood ion channels in the brain to alleviate
anxiety or depression.
Study co-author Raphael Mechoulam said the findings suggest that an
entirely new class of depression and anxiety drugs might be right
under our noses.
The researchers administered incensole acetate to mice and found that
the compound significantly affected areas in brain areas known to be
involved in emotions as well as in nerve circuits that are affected by
current anxiety and depression drugs.
"In spite of information stemming from ancient texts, constituents of
Bosweilla had not been investigated for psychoactivity," Mechoulam
said in a statement. "We found that incensole acetate, a Boswellia
resin constituent, when tested in mice lowers anxiety and causes
anti-depressive-like behavior. Apparently, most present day worshipers
assume that incense burning has only a symbolic meaning."
The findings were published online in The Federation of American
Societies for Experimental Biology Journal.
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