BREAKING NEWS ON CANCER PREVENTION

New compounds are being discovered within extracts of Reishi mushroom on a regular basis; at least 3 were identified in late 2012 alone.55 These discoveries are shedding light on Reishi extracts’ remarkable, multi-targeted anti-cancer properties.

Most intriguing are findings that add to our knowledge about Reishi and the phenomenon of immune surveillance. New cancer cells appear in your body every day, but your healthy immune system normally searches these out, quickly activating killer cells to destroy developing cancers before they can form tumors.

Advancing age, coupled with the onset of other chronic illnesses, and exposure to various environmental toxins (and even some medications), means that your immune system’s ability to carry out immune surveillance wanes. And, if just one abnormal, cancer-prone cell escapes detection and destruction, it can develop into a full-blown malignancy with tremendous swiftness.

META-ANALYSIS CONDUCTED ON REISHI FOR CANCER TREATMENT

An evaluation of all available clinical trials on the use of Reishi in cancer treatment was published in June 2012.

While there was insufficient data to demonstrate efficacy Reishi by itself, when Reishi was given alongsideradiation and/or chemotherapy, patients were 50% more likely to respond positively compared to those given chemo/radiation alone. the results in cancer patients receiving Reishi showed the expected increases in immune cells known to enhance tumor response and stimulate host immunity.82

We at Life Extension® look forward to better quality methodological trials to clarify the value of Reishi in adjunctive cancer treatment.

There’s an abundance of data on ways that Reishi extracts boost immune surveillance and enhance detection and elimination of emerging cancer cells from the body.56 And in late 2012, several new studies revealed that these mushrooms have substantially deeper and more advanced mechanisms than had been previously suspected.  The mechanisms of how Reishi identifies and then attacks cancer cells are extremely sophisticated and effective. We know that cancer cells evade immune system surveillance by “hiding” their abnormal surface markers.4 These types of molecular changes not only permit primary cancer to arise, but also contribute to relapses of cancer following chemotherapy.57

Reishi extracts force cancer cells to reveal their telltale markers, flagging them for destruction by immune killer cells.4 At the same time, Reishi extracts induce the production of specific molecules that the immune system needs to complete the killing process.4 Ultimately, Reishi extracts enhance the killing of cancer cells by normal immune killer cells, and reduce the amount of chemotherapy drugs required to finish the job.57,58

In addition to their impressive immune-surveillance-boosting properties, Reishi extracts have numerous other ways of attacking cancer:

• Reishi compounds, particularly the triterpenes and polysaccharides, limit tumors’ growth rate by blocking the abnormal reproductive cycles of cancer cells.59
• Some of these compounds are directly toxic to cancer cells, while sparing healthy tissue.60,61
• Reishi compounds inhibit metastatic processes and decrease the expression of genes involved in cancer cell survival, proliferation, invasion, and metastasis.61
• Reishi compounds also trigger the programmed cell death called apoptosis that’s suppressed in malignant cells.55,60-62

Together, all of these effects of Reishi mushrooms are shown to reduce the size and growth rates of human tumors, both in animals and in human clinical trials.

The most dramatic impact has been shown in colorectal cancer, which is the second leading cause of cancer death among cancers that affect both men and women.63

Clinical studies show that Reishi extracts suppress the development of adenomas, which are pre-malignant masses found in the large intestine.64

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

Remarkable Benefits of Reishi

• Recent studies show that Reishi mushrooms have hundreds of components in three distinct classes of bioactive molecules, making them ideal for combating the complex and multifactorial diseases we face with advancing age.
• Reishi extracts prolong life spans in animal experiments by 9 to more than20%.
• Reishi boosts the immune system’s vigilance against cancer cells, potentially reducing the risk of developing a detectable and deadly tumor.
• Reishi extracts can suppress an overly vigorous immune response, helping to quell symptoms of allergies, asthma, and autoimmune diseases.
• Independent of their immune-modulating effects, Reishi mushrooms’ active molecules are showing promise in the battle against neurodegenerative diseases, obesity and diabetes, and liver disease.
• If there is such a thing as the “ideal” supplement, capable of attacking multiple complex diseases each with multiple causative factors, Reishi mushrooms are surely an outstanding candidate.

http://www.lifeextension.com/magazine/2013/2/how-reishi-combats-aging/page-01

STOP AGING WITH REISHI

Reishi mushrooms have been used for medicinal purposes for at least 2,000 years.37 The mushrooms were known to the ancients as “the mushroom of immortality”37—and for good reason. They had the reputation of promoting health and longevity, boosting the immune system, and reducing the risk of life-shortening conditions such as cardiovascular disease and cancer.38-41 Science has finally validated this traditional wisdom.

Originally, Reishi mushrooms were rare and expensive,38,42 but now advances in cultivation techniques have made these medicinal mushrooms more available which has led to an explosion of research on their properties and components.38,42

Studies have shown that Reishi mushrooms can contribute to longer life spans.1,2 They can help manage some of today’s most troubling age-related conditions, including autoimmune diseases, neurodegenerative disorders, diabetes, liver disease, cancer, and more.

How is it that this simple mushroom can have such wide-ranging health effects? Keep in mind that there isn’t one single cause of aging and disease. Numerous factors contribute to these conditions—meaning that in order to combat them, you need to fight them from a multi-targeted approach. That’s exactly what makes Reishi mushrooms so powerful. The mushroom itself contains hundreds of biologically active molecules—all of which work together to have such broad-reaching health benefits.37

Researchers have identified three specific compounds that are essential to Reishi’s powerful antioxidant and antiaging effects:

1. Polysaccharides have anticancer effects based on their ability to prevent abnormal blood vessel formation, and to boost immune system function.40,42
2. Triterpenes protect the liver, lower blood pressure and cholesterol, prevent platelet clumping that leads to heart attack and stroke, fight allergic responses triggered by histamine, and also possess anticancer activity.42
3. Ganoderma lucidum peptide is a unique protein that has remarkably potent antioxidant characteristics that are still being unraveled.43

But what makes Reishi mushroom beneficial to so many varied aspects of your health is its actions on many different targets in your body. The actions triggered by Reishi mushrooms produce important changes that may contribute to their promotion of longevity. Reishi extracts are known to:

• Protect cellular DNA from oxidant damage that causes aging and cancer.44
• Protect mitochondrial DNA and the mitochondria themselves from oxidant damage that weakens their energy-producing abilities and makes them inefficient, another major cause of aging.45-47
• Increase levels and activity of a large suite of natural intracellular antioxidant molecules, resulting in reduced oxidation of cell membranes and organelles that lead to aging and its related diseases.38,48
• Protect kidney tubule cells from oxidant damage that leads to kidney failure.49
• Increase expression of a key longevity gene and promote an increased life span in species ranging from yeasts, to primitive worms, to mammals such as mice.1,2,50,51

Several studies have shown that Reishi is one of the most powerful mushrooms with regard to antioxidant characteristics.52,53 Reishi mushrooms boost total antioxidant capacity, an important measure of the vigor with which they fight oxidant damage.52,54

In a human study, Reishi mushrooms were given to healthy volunteers as a single 1,100 mg dose.54 Plasma antioxidant capacity rose rapidly to a peak at 90 minutes, while urine antioxidant capacity (a measure of what has been in the body) rose by 29% after 3 hours. Neither study showed any evidence of toxicity or side effects.39

Reishi’s many mechanisms of action are what allow it to have such a dramatic impact on such a wide array of age-related health threats. Let’s now look at some of the most promising areas of research.

http://www.ganodermathemiraculous.com/

http://www.lifeextension.com/magazine/2013/2/how-reishi-combats-aging/page-01