Can a mushroom cure cancer? It is not so easy

As a result of the desire to achieve immediate health benefits, so-called “superfoods” are emerging. Goji berries, tea, quinoa and kale are really very healthy. very nutritious. But they are usually credited with medicinal properties, which in most cases they’re not like that.

Einstein was right again: black holes have a “fall region.”

Ganoderma, a mushroom growing on a tree

There is a type of organisms that includes numerous advantagesone of them is very ambitious: his obvious ability cure cancer. We mean gender Ganoderma, which unites a group of mushrooms growing on wood. Contains a large number of species of tropical origin.

In Spain we can find these mushrooms relatively often. In old forests with a lot of dead wood Ganoderma it grows by decomposing it.

It is curious that despite this important work for the ecosystem, also causes death of living trees. It’s no surprise that some researchers have dubbed this particular mushroom “Jekyll and Mr. Hyde Mushroom”.

In addition to its environmental role, Ganoderma widely used in traditional asian medicine for thousands of years.

Medicinal use

Some mushrooms have given rise powerful drugs known as penicillin.

Currently, more than a hundred mushrooms are used for medicinal purposes. Some of the most popular: turkey tail (Trametes multicolored), He Maitake (Leafy Grifola) and popular shiitake (Lentinus Edodes).

Among all these mushrooms and fungi used in traditional medicine, Ganoderma bright this is the one who has oldest recorded use. For over 2,000 years, Chinese culture has used it as a tonic to prolong life and prevent aging.

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But not everything is as good as it seems. Although mushrooms such as turkey tail have been tested, both in the laboratory and in humans, Ganoderma (also called reishi) has little scientific evidence for the benefits attributed to it.

Cancer Research

Is it possible that some of these mushrooms have application in such an important process how to treat cancer? The truth is yes, but not as advertised.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has dedicated an entire page on its website to mushrooms such as Complementary and alternative therapies for treating various types of cancer. Mentioned in detail Trametes multicolored as adjuvant immunological therapy for gastric cancer, as in research in vitro, as in human clinical studies. In fact, it is an approved fungal product in Japan.

The mushroom contains special substances (PSK polysaccharides) that can slow tumor growth and promote immune response. So is it useful in cancer therapy? Yes, with but.

The key lies in the word adjuvant, that is, something that Serves as support or aid alongside other therapy. PSK is provided as a supplement to tea or tablets after patients have undergone chemotherapy or surgery. This means that it promotes the anti-cancer process, but is not the direct cause.

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WITH Ganodermathe same thing doesn’t happen. To begin with, it has been proven that the species used in East Asia and Europe they are not identical. Although most published scientific studies use the name G. Lucidumasian look Sichuan G..

Contrary to Trametes, Ganoderma no really convincing studies about its effectiveness in the treatment of cancer, either as an adjuvant or as a direct participant.

Published studies mainly use words such as “perhaps”, “possibly” or “perhaps”but there is no convincing scientific evidence for its anti-cancer role.

Moreover, a number of studies indicate high price carry out these studies, valued at millions, to conduct a phase I pharmacological study, so they are not in abundance.

Another point that confirms its dubious effect against cancer is that of the few truly scientific studies publishedresults vary from those guaranteed which has no clinical use for those who suspect it may cause some harm.

All this leads us to the conclusion that Ganoderma bright It’s not as wonderful as it seemsat least when it comes to cancer and its treatment.

Therefore certain description of mushrooms They should change their attitude towards this mushroom, and not spread about its properties that have not been scientifically proven.

It’s true that there are signs that Ganodermamay be useful in the fight against cancerbecause it contains substances like Trametes and others tested in research in vitro. However, it is important to clarify that there is still much to be studied before reliable results can be obtained in humans.

Sergio Fuentes Anton, Professor of Didactics of Experimental Sciences, University of Salamanca

This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original.