The immune system, which plays a critical part in keeping a patient cancer free following therapy, can be severely damaged, placing them at high risk for disease and re-occurance with cancer. In addition, radiation can cause extreme nausea, hair loss, and other painful side effects to the patient. In all of these areas, herbs can be an important aspect in helping to lesson the serious side effects of cancer therapy. It would benefit anyone struggling with cancer or any doctor treating a cancer patient, to investigate how herbs may play a part in their cancer protocol.
In China, doctors treat cancer patients with a type of therapy similar to western chemotherapy. However, as part of their therapy, they give their patients herbs that will alleviate most of the toxic effects of the chemotherapy. Herbs that are frequently used include siberian ginseng, panax ginseng, astragalus, codonopsis, reishi mushroom, and schizandrae berry. Patients that submit to this type of therapy, regularly come out of their treatment series with an intact immune system. They tend to feel better, complaining less of the pain, hair loss, nausea, digestive problems, and other side effects by taking the herbal combinations prescribed. In observing their success using these methods, it is obvious that this is an area where herbs and orthodox treatment together are probably better than either of them used by themselves.
Important Medicinal Mushrooms for Cancer
One group of immune potentiating herbs that is gaining more recognition from herbalists working with cancer clients is that of medicinal mushrooms.Reishi, Shiitake, Maitake, Chaga and Cordyceps are all excellent mushrooms for cancer, especially when used in combination. One of the superstars in this group of medicinal mushrooms is Reishi. Research has shown that Reishi extracts exert an inhibition effect on tumor growth. Reishi has been called an “immune potentiator” and can increase the production of Interleukin-1 & 2. But this mushroom has been considered an important tool for herbal healers for a very long time. In fact, the herbal history of reishi was documented in the oldest Chinese pharmacopoeia written in the first or second century B.C. In this important document, Reishi was purported to have extensive and effective healing powers. In ancient China and Japan, some of these mushrooms were so valued that only emperors or royal families could afford them. The effectiveness of these mushrooms seems to come from the fact that they contain polysaccharides, which increase immunologic function and body strength. Reishi is currently used as an important adjunct to cancer treatments in Japan and China.
Another one of these mushrooms, Chaga, is a little-known medicinal mushroom that has exciting potential in supporting healthy immune function. Chaga mushroom has a slightly bitter, coffee-like flavor. Chaga contains large amounts of betulinic acid. The anti-cancer properties of betulinic acid are now being studied for use as a very promising chemotherapeutic agent. Chaga also contains the full spectrum of immune-stimulating phytochemicals found in other medicinal mushrooms. It is interesting to note, that in every place where it grows, every culture uses it as a treatment for cancer. Chaga has been used for centuries in Russia as a cancer cure, including cancer of the lip, lung, throat, lung, uterus, breast and stomach. The research done in Russia showed that after six months of usage, most patients had tumor shrinkage and had an increased quality of life. An important note about Chaga, is that it must be cooked in order to be effective.
Shiitake is another important medicinal mushroom. An extract (Lentinan) from Shiitake has been licensed as an anti-cancer drug by the Japanese FDA. Lentinan has shown some effect on colon, liver, stomach, ovarian and lung cancers. Lentinan stimulates the production of T lymphocytes and natural killer cells and can potentiate the effect of AZT in the anti-viral treatment of A.I.D.S. For centuries called “Elixir of Life,” shiitake is rich in several anti-oxidants, including selenium, & vitamin A, E, & C.
Cordyceps mushroom can be another powerful stimulant for macrophage activity, strengthening the immune system’s ability to fight against bacterial and viral infection as well as cancer. Human clinical studies indicate that Cordyceps can be effective for the treatment of lung cancer, high cholesterol, poor libido/impotence, arrhythmia, and chronic kidney failure.
Maitake is another important mushroom that has been shown to stimulate the immune system and to be effective against some tumors.
I use MYCO DEFENSE or Swanson MUSHROOM COMPLEX or any mushroom complex caps and I give 1 cap in PM meal.
