Cordyceps
Cordyceps – the caterpillar fungus  Cordyceps sinensis, a
well-known and valued traditional Chinese medicine, is also
called DongChongXiaCao (winter worm summer grass) in Chinese.
In herbal medicine, it is commonly used to replenish the
kidney and soothe the lung and it is believed to benefit
fatigue, night sweating, hyposexualities, hyperglycemia,
hyperlipidemia, asthemia after severe illness, respiratory
disease, renal dysfunction and renal failure, arrhythmias and
other heart disease, and liver disease. As the rarity and
upstanding curative effects of natural Cordyceps, several
mycelial strains have been isolated from natural Cordyceps and
manufactured in large quantities by fermentation technology,
and they are commonly sold as health food products in Asia.
Cordyceps is now cultivated not using caterpillars but having
bio-identical genetics and with a potency superior to that of
the fungus in the wild.
Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) adopts a more holistic
philosophy than in Western medicine. It emphasizes the
importance of balance in the mind and body and the smooth flow
of an optimal amount of energy, known as chi or Qi, in
maintaining health. This balance is known as yin and yang.
There is a lot of evidence to show that some of these ideas
are sound in the treatment and diagnosis of a patient. Western
scientists have discovered two chemical messengers that allow
cells to communicate, called cAMP and cGMP. These also seem to
be opposites very much like yin and yang. When Chinese doctors
believe yin and yang is out of balance, western doctors see a
change in the two chemical messenger levels, e.g. in the yin
condition we find cAMP is low and cGMP is high and in the yang
condition it, is the reverse. In Western medicine, the
treatment is targeted specifically at the disease and the
diseased organ. Where as in TCM the target is the whole
patient since the treatment is based on the whole system being
out of balance. Many modern western drugs are the purified forms of
chemicals present in traditional medicines. Aspirin is made
chemically now in pure form, but the original source was
willow bark. Digitalis was originally purified from fox glove,
a flower, and ephedrine from a desert shrub. Only a few fungi
have been used as traditional medicines. Scientists continue
to visit other countries to collect and study traditional
medicines hoping to discover new drug sources. The caterpillar fungus is a traditional medicine that has
been widely used as a tonic and/or medicine by the Chinese for
hundreds of years. The use of this fungus was relatively
unknown in this country until it was credited for the success
of Chinese women athletes at the National Games in Beijing, in
1993. Three Chinese track runners set new world records during
the Games at three different distances, 10,000 m, 15,000 m and
30,000 m. Their coach, Ma Zunren, attributed the runner’s
success to intensive training as well as a stress-relieving
tonic prepared from the caterpillar fungus. In the old days, Chinese people thought that the
caterpillar funguses (DongChongXiaCao) were worms. However,
after years of study, it was found that it really is a
fruiting body produced by the fungus, Cordyceps sinensis, on
dead caterpillars of the moth Hepilus fabricius. Spores of
Cordyceps sinensis grow inside the caterpillars filling the
caterpillar with filaments (hyphae). When the caterpillar dies
the fungus produces a stalked fruiting body that produces
spores. The spores are spread in the wind to the next
generation of caterpillars. Uninfected caterpillars pupate
into relatively large primitive moths. There are many claims of what Cordyceps mushroom can do. In
China the fungus is used to regulate and support the gonads,
and as a lung and kidney tonic. It was also recommended as a
tonic ‘for all illness’ because of its claimed effects to
improve energy, appetite, stamina, and endurance and sleeping
patterns. According to some herbalists the fungus can pretty
much do everything, ‘This is one of the most popular and
precious longevity-promoting herbs because it strengthens the
adrenal glands, increases sexual vitality, relieves bronchitis
and emphysema, reduces blood fats and sugars, lowers blood
pressure and improves blood circulation’. It is also
supposedly able to increase a person’s immune system. These
effects are cause because of its high affinity to the Yin
organs: the heart, kidneys and liver. Some people believe the caterpillar fungus may put the
following in remission: tuberculosis, coughing, anemia, and
back and knee pains. Today, the caterpillar fungus is mainly
used as a tonic to increase strength or for rejuvenation after
a long serious injury. Some also believe that the fungus can
also reduce stress. If scientific research supports these
claims and identifies the active ingredients produced by the
fungus it may become very valuable in modern medicine.
Scientists have already identified several compounds isolated
that might be useful when purified as drugs to combat some
types of cancer and lymphocytes [natural killer cells]. Scientists from the University of Nottingham in Great
Britain say they've documented how Cordyceps can fight cancer
and the new discovery could increase the effectiveness of
mushroom-derived cancer treatments. For the study, published
in the Journal of Biological Chemistry, Dr. Cornelia de Moor
of the University of Nottingham and her colleagues
investigated a drug called cordycepin, which was originally
extracted from wild growing Cordyceps and is now prepared from
a cultivated form of the mushroom.
The University of
Nottingham scientists found that the Cordyceps-derived
treatment has two important effects on cells that could impact
the growth of malignant tumors. At low doses, cordycepin
inhibits the uncontrolled growth and division of cells while
at high doses it prevents cells from sticking together,
essentially blocking the cells from growing. Scientists at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia,
published research in the journal Cancer Immunology,
Immunotherapy showing that oral Cordyceps can reduce the
occurrence of cancer spreading to the lungs in metastatic
breast cancer. Although the researchers found that Cordyceps
does not reduce the growth of the primary breast tumor, they
noted that deaths from breast cancer are primarily due to the
development of metastases. That means a treatment that stops
the spread of metastatic tumors could save countless lives.
Although various medical therapies currently exist that
attempt to stop the growth of cancerous metastatic tumors,
they have little effect so this makes the Dalhousie University
research into Cordyceps very important. References
http://www.zhion.com/herb/Cordyceps.html
http://www.naturalnews.com/027869_cordyceps_cancer.html
http://herbarium.usu.edu/fungi/FunFacts/Caterpillar.htm
http://www.world-of-fungi.org/Mostly_Medical/James_Howard/James_HowardSSM.htm
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