Reishi as Cancer Treatment? Mechanism behind Reishi’s Cancer Fighting Properties

Reishi as Cancer Treatment? Mechanism behind Reishi’s Cancer Fighting Properties AUTHOR BETTINA MACKENBACH reishi Reishi is beautiful! Perhaps not as visibly beautiful as flowers, but for years, people all over the world have known about a medicinal mushroom called Reishi, also known as Ganoderma Lucidum and Ling-Zi. People have used this fungi as a cancer treatment, or at least an adjunct treatment together with traditional Western cancer therapy. In fact, the Medicinal Mushroom Information Center has published numerous articles about Reishi and other medicinal mushrooms detailing scientific, peer-reviewed university level studies about medicinal mushrooms’ ability to help heal cancer. The common denominator behind all medicinal mushrooms is that they contain a lot polysaccharide called beta glucan. While it is known that beta glucan helps the human body fight cancer cells (please watch the video below), scientists have not been sure what the process is behind beta glucan’s and Reishi’s ability to help trigger the immune response. That is… until now. Taiwanese Researchers Discover Reishi’s Anti-Cancer Properties At Taipei City, a Taiwan-based research team from Academia Sinica seems to have solved the puzzle behind Reishi’s anti-cancer properties. According to the team, led by Academia Sinica President Wong Chi-Huey and Wu-Chung Yi, it appears that the Reishi extract’s ability to inhibit cancerous tumors in mice is based on fucose-based polysaccharides. Their report was distributed in the August 20th issue of the United States based Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Other researchers in Taiwan had earlier demonstrated that a Reishi polysaccharide extract known as F3 can slow tumor growth when injected in mice. The Academia Sinica team found that sera from mice immunized with F3 contained antibodies that recognized tumor antigens Globo H and related structures, with inhibition of tumor growth directly related to these antibodies. The research team demonstrated also that when F3 was enriched with fucose – creating a compound called FMS – it was even more effective at inhibiting tumors. In plain English, this showed that fucose residue is the key anti-cancer component! Reishi is commonly available as a dietary supplement. Please visit the Cancer section of Medicinal Mushroom Information Center to learn more about reishi as cancer treatment and medicinal mushrooms’ ability to fight cancer. You will learn how there are certain mushrooms that work well when combined with traditional cancer treatments, such as chemotherapy or radiotherapy, and mushrooms that may have produced an even stronger anti-cancer effect than Reishi. As always, do not discontinue or change your traditional cancer treatment without first consulting with your physician. Please remember to visit our other health news portals, Amino Acid Information Center at http://aminoacidinformation.com and Vancouver Health News at http://VancouverHealthNews.ca and http://todayswordofwisdom.com.