Frankincense oil - is it a fad?

Have you heard of Frankincense Oil?
Frankincense oil is incredibly popular and most widely used due to its relaxing and calming scent. Those who have been raised in Christian faith probably have heard of Frankincense in the Bible. Frankincense was one of the three gifts being brought to infant Jesus by the three wise men. There are many people who ascribe tremendous medicinal properties to Frankincense Oil. From killing microbes, alleviating asthma symptoms, aiding digestion to reducing heavy menstrual flow.

Before I dive into actual research I wanted to mention the history of its use.
Frankincense is derived from Boswellia trees (carterii, serrata or sacra) found in China, India, Somalia and Ethiopia as well as other regions of Arabia and Africa. The first ancient historical source that mentions use of Frankincense was in an Egyptian medical papyrus called 'The Ebers Papyrus" dated 1500 BC. In the paper it was mentioned that frankincense has been used as treatment for asthma, colds and other pulmonary and throat infections. People throughout the history have used it during religious ceremonies, burials as well as during childbirth. Frankincense resin was one of the most sought after incents and was used by Egyptians, Greeks and Romans. However, many people use it today and claim it posseses incredible healing properties.

But is there any scientific evidence to back it up? What does the research say? Let's examine it.
When you type in "frankincense" into a search bar on PubMed (National Library of Medicine made available by National Institute of Health) you get 354 results to be exact.
*According to this 2019 study which was a randomized, placebo-controlled, clinical trial (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30670277/), frankincense could be used as a “as complementary treatment for heavy menstrual bleeding (HMB) among women of reproductive age.”

*In 2019, the International Journal of molecular sciences posted a study article discussing the frankincense as a prevention or treatment of many chronic diseases including “arthritis, diabetes, asthma, cancer, inflammatory bowel disease, Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's, etc.”
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31443458/

*In 2019, a group of researchers conducted “a pilot, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial to assess the safety and efficacy of a novel Boswellia serrata extract in the management of osteoarthritis of the knee.” In that paper they have concluded that “Patients were administered BSE (Boswellia serrata extract) or placebo for a period of 120 days. The trial results revealed that BSE (Boswellia serrata extract) treatment significantly improved the physical function of the patients by reducing pain and stiffness compared with placebo. Radiographic assessments showed improved knee joint gap and reduced osteophytes (spur) confirming the efficacy of BSE treatment.”
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30838706/

*In 2020 a research article was published discussing potential antimicrobial properties of Boswellia sacra (frankincense). Inhibitory properties were observed “toward relevant pathogens Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and samples from Grade 2 of Sahily and Houjiri were particularly active against a dermatological strain Propionibacterium acnes.” “Data obtained from in vitro studies showed that all essential oils had a significant antifungal effect against Candida albicans and Malassezia furfur.”
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32325952/

*In another study researchers have concluded that an active substance in frankincense oil called Alpha-pinene showed anti-inflammatory properties “in human mononuclear cells and mouse macrophages.” It also “showed that isolated alpha-pinene had the ability to reduce the expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines.” Cytokines as we know may elicit inflammation as they make the cell more leaky which causes the fluid shift into the tissues and swell. The researchers also describe another study in which “it was found that exposure to alpha-pinene increased T-cell activity and decreased stress hormone levels.”
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29450138/ (This study was sponsored by an essential oil company Doterra so they do have a conflict of interest).
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There are multiple promising studies showing an improvement in memory in a rat model. Additional 75 studies are generated when you type in “Boswellic extract” in the search. Obviously many more studies should be done before we can establish frankincense as an effective treatment. However, from the research literature we currently possess it is safe to conclude that frankincense could be used as a complementary treatment for many chronic ailments.