|
|
Health and
Fitness
Guggul
Recognized
for its Cholesterol Containing Powers
by
Ramesh Menon
 There is a surging interest in the west about how an Indian tree called
Guggul could dramatically help you bring down your frighteningly high
cholesterol levels.
That is not all. It can also help you fight obesity.
The yellowish extracts from the resin of the Guggul tree (Commiphora
mukul) is soon going to be one area that is going to come under the
spotlight in the west for its magical medicinal properties. What is new
in this, you might ask. After all, was this not known in India almost
2,500 years ago? It was.
But, it is only now that scientists in the United States are testifying
to its efficacy. Recently, Dr. David Moore of the Baylor College of
Medicine in Houston has reported “the 2500-year-old traditional Indian
medication for lowering cholesterol really works.”
Dr. N.K. Ganguly, director general of the Indian Council of Medical
Research says no new research was being done on Guggul in India as the
Central Drug Research Institute in India had developed the Guggul drug
for cholesterol lowering properties way back in the seventies. It was
also patented. A private company marketed the drug and in India the
properties and medical efficacy of Guggul was not new to Indian
scientists, he said.
The prestigious American journal, Science, has reported Dr. Moore’s
findings. The American interest in Guggul is been seen with great
interest in India as it might lead to the development of improved drugs.
There are ample references to Guggul and its medicinal properties in
“Sushruta Samahita”, the classical ancient treatise on Ayurvedic
medicine, which describes the use of Guggul for a wide variety of
conditions. Some of these are rheumatism, obesity, and atherosclerosis.
It was also used to lower the elevated levels of serum cholesterol and
triglycerides (a group of fatty compounds that circulate in the
bloodstream, and are stored in the fat tissues). It was also extensively
used as an anti-inflammatory agent.
In Ayurvedic medicine, it is used to remove "Ama", or deposits of
waste or toxic material in the body, including mucus and mineral
deposits in the joints, thus reducing a possible cause of sluggishness,
inflamed joints, and many other conditions.
For centuries, this small, thorn tree found all over India was a highly
respected traditional medicine. Guggul was basically a yellowish
oleoresin that came out of the tree when incisions were made in the
bark.
The Guggul tree extensively grown all over India gives out a resinous
sap when incisions are made on it. Ayurveda has used it for centuries as
medicine.
Today, modern advanced chemistry processes and purifies this resinous
sap. It is then standardized for a given amount of its active
constituents-Z and E Guggulsterones. These two compounds are plant
sterols with a high degree of human bioactivity and have been shown in
studies to affect many biological processes including thyroid
metabolism, cholesterol management, and skin function. In each of these
areas, Guggulsterones were shown in studies to be highly effective
modulators with near drug-like potency.
It was more than forty years ago that Dr G. V. Satyavati, who was a
former Director-General of the Indian Council of Medical Research first
reported the hypolipidemic action of Guggul in a doctoral thesis
submitted to the Benaras Hindu University.
Dr Satyavati tried Guggul on hypercholesterolemic rabbits. She
discovered that their serum cholesterol lowered. It was not just that;
their obesity reduced as well.
Dr Moore says the Guggul extract lived up to its reputation of lowering
cholesterol as mentioned in a number of clinical studies in Indian
literature. Dr Moore’s paper credits Indian Ayurvedic medicine using the
extract since at least 600 BC to treat obesity and other disorders.
Earlier work by other US-based institutions such as the University of
Texas’ Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, and Xceptor Therapeutics
in San Diego demonstrated an active correlation between Guggul’s active
agent – the steroid Guggulsterone – and FXR (Farnesoid X Receptor),
which is the key regulator of cholesterol metabolism.
Dr Moore tested these qualities of Guggul in mice. The mice were fed a
high cholesterol diet for a week and given specific doses of
Guggulsterone. Surprisingly, the cholesterol level remained the same as
when they began eating the high cholesterol diet, though it should have
shot up under normal circumstances.
Senior Scientist Dr. A.K. Sen who was formerly at the National Institute
of Science Communication, New Delhi, points out: “Guggul is an age old
phenomenon that is well documented in India. The only thing that is new
is that there is now a quest to have it scientifically tested to give it
authenticity. The west is moving towards Guggul as it is fed up with the
modern allopathic system that has side effects and is also not so
effective. The west is finally turning back to nature and plant based
medicine.”
Cautions Dr Devendra Sharma, a New Delhi based food policy analyst and a
well-known commentator on bio-piracy: “We should be very careful about
documenting traditional knowledge unless adequate safeguards are
provided to protect the knowledge of traditional communities. One way to
do it is to introduce a clause in the US Patent and Trade Mark Office,
which should explicitly say that any company, or individual seeking a
patent on something, which is traditionally known, would be prosecuted
and blacklisted.”
Sharma says that the onus on proving that they have not stolen the idea
would be on them and not on poor countries like India that just does not
have the money to go in for protracted litigation abroad. When the
basmati battle was on, an internal note of the commerce ministry in
India had said that it did not have the money to fight the patent war.
Increasingly, Ayurveda is emerging as a strong alternative to allopathic
medicine both in the west and India. The effort of the Indian government
in now documenting Guggul and thousands of other traditional Ayurvedic
medicines into a digital library is to stop pirating of traditional
knowledge and stop patenting of traditional Indian medicine by western
marauders.
According to Barcelona based Genetic Resources Action International, an
international NGO working on genetic resources and bio-piracy, two
patents have already been granted on Guggul: US Patent No. 5972341 dated
October 26, 1999 and US Patent No. 6113949 dated September 5, 2000. All
of them are based on traditional knowledge from India.
Says Dr. Sharma: “Look at China. They have managed 12,000 patents of
their traditional medicine. Why cannot India also do it?”
April 15, 2007
Image under license with Gettyimages.com
Top |
Health and
Fitness
|
|
