CORDYCEPS AND CANCER

(NaturalNews) Researchers from the University of Nottingham have found that a rare, wild mushroom called cordyceps is an effective treatment for cancer. Commonly used in Chinese medicine, the cordyceps fungi inhibits the growth, division, and proliferation of cancer cells in the body.

Depending upon dosage levels, cordyceps mushroom extracts directly impact the process of cell protein development, impeding the production of the mRNA molecules that create them. At high doses, cordyceps inhibits protein development directly, essentially eliminating the ability of cancer cells to function and survive.

Since the study focused on the pharmaceutical drug formulation derived from cordyceps, called cordycepin, lead scientist Dr. Cornelia de Moor and her team specifically sought ways to improve the effectiveness of that particular drug. Their only solution was to suggest giving another drug alongside cordycepin in order to prevent it from degrading in the body. The team warned that the other drug causes serious side effects which may discourage its use.

Though the research focused primarily on cordycepin, it ultimately revealed the powerful effects of cordyceps in preventing and treating cancer. The study is set to be published in the Journal of Biological Chemistry and its authors hope that the findings will spark further research into the potential uses for cordyceps as a cancer treatment.

DIFFERENT TYPES OF MUSHROOMS

When we think of mushrooms, we think of small white vegetables that can be sliced and cooked with other foods.

We have no idea of the vast kingdom of Fungus that inhabits the Earth and makes it possible for us, as animals, to live on this planet. The FUNGUS Kingdom is enormous. It has over 1.5 million species. It covers every centimeter of earth and inhabits that earth and also our bodies.

Without Fungi (The plural of Fungus) the dead matter of plants and animals would be kilometers high on the surface of the planet. Fungi, are Saprophytes, they live of dead matter. The Fungi convert the dead matter from organic molecules to inorganic molecules, thereby reducing the size of the dead material covering the planet.

Plants love and thrive on sunlight. Fungi love and thrive on darkness. This strange dichotomy of existence shows that life is all encompassing — that light and darkness are filled with life.

FUNGI IN OUR BODY

The average person learns that fungi are living in his body when his immune system is weakened. He then may notice that his skin develops red rings.

These are fungal infections called Ring Worm or Dermatophytis Corporus. The Latin term simply means skin fungal infection of the body. These infections are common amongst children whose immune system is still undeveloped.

When the immune system is weakened we often see red areas with white plaques in the throat. Here, again, we are looking at fungi. These infections are generally caused by a fungus called Candida Albicans, and are very common. Women frequently develop Candida in the vagina, due to the moist dark environment.

The infections of fungi noted above are easily treated with antifungal medications, which are made from the products of other fungi.

When the immune system is seriously depressed, such as is seen with AIDS patients, these trivial diseases become life threatening. In these cases other more deadly fungi in combination with bacteria enter the body and ultimately, the patient succumbs to the infections.

THE IMMUNE SYSTEM

The immune system is a two edged sword.

When it is weak, such as in AIDS patients, it allows all the micro-organisms, such as bacteria, viruses, fungi, to attack the body. When it is too strong, the immune system attacks the cells of its own body causing auto-immune diseases. These diseases, such as multiple sclerosis, lupus and Crohn’s disease kill the patient slowly.

The Immune System is composed of white cells of the body. They are trained by the body to defend the body. Yet, if the immune system is over-active, it attacks the body. If it is under-active it allows deadly organisms to enter. When the immune system is perfect, then you are in perfect health.

Mushrooms can tune up your immune system.

MEDICINAL MUSHROOMS

For over five thousand years, the people living in China have scoured the earth looking for plants for food; and, also to cure them when they were sick. Over these thousands of years, they discovered a group of mushrooms, that could be used as cures. These mushrooms affected the immune system.

Today, we call these mushrooms, immune-modulators. They change the immune system to make it strong when it is weak, or make it weaker, when it is too strong. The ability to perform both these tasks is not found in other medications.

The most prominent of these mushrooms are:

1. REISHI

2. MAITAKE

3. GONADODERMA LUCIDUM

4. SHIITAKE

5. CORDYCEPS SINENSIS

Each one of these species has special characteristics. They are now so famous that people all over the world use them. Of all these mushrooms, I find the Cordyceps Sinensis the most fascinating. Its Chinese name is Dong Chong Xia Cao.

This mushroom is an infection of a caterpillar by the fungus. The caterpillar is the larval stage of a moth that lives in the mountains of Tibet. The fungus invades the larva and ultimately kills it. The fungus then grows from the larval body. This combination, the larva and fungus, have been found to be beneficial for powerful diseases such as cancer. It has also been found to give energy to athletes and slow the aging process.

DRIED CORDYCEPS

Since it is famous for these benefits, it is extremely expensive. Ten grams of this mushroom cost in 2009, over one hundred dollars! The governments of the Tibetan plateau where it is found makes a large income from selling this mushroom to buyers across the world.

There are many counterfeit Cordyceps on the market — always sold in capsule form. The real Cordyceps should be bought as illustrated in the above pictures, a worm with a long mushroom growing out of it. It is then placed in soup for approximately an hour and eaten. Approximate 5 to 7 grams are eaten in one day.

Since so many scientific studies have shown that this mushroom I good for many illnesses many companies claim that they have cultivated the mushroom. This is hard to believe because it is not just a mushroom, but a mushroom which has invaded a special larva, and then grown to maturity after the larva dies.

We must remember that the ingredients of Cordyceps are fungi and animal. Such a combination is unknown in any other source. The immune system thus encounters a combination unknown to it. The immune system will adapt in the process of immuno-modulation and attack some cells while stimulating others.

MUSHROOMS AND DRUGS

The first major use of fungi as a source of medicine occurred in 1929 with the discovery of Penicillin. Penicillin is nothing more than a fungus which can kill certain types of bacteria. From that day forward pharmaceutical companies have been researching the effects of fungi on all types of bacteria. Hundreds of antibiotics have been produced from fungal sources.

In addition, immune system depressants such as the cyclosporines have also been produced. The quantity and variety of medicines produced from fungi has no equal in modern science. We must remember that Fungi make up the largest Kingdom of living beings on the planet. They are everywhere, on our bodies, in our food, in the ground and in the air. From the point of view of humans, they can do both good and bad.

As we learn more about fungi, I believe that we will find, presently unthinkable, cures for many of our illnesses. As we see where our position is in the ecological scheme of the world, we will learn which living organism can harm us, and, more importantly, which can help us.

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