Reshi mushroom extract

Jaypee · Posted: Tue Dec 06, 2005 12:17 pm Post subject: Reshi mushroom extract

My 52 yr old sister just completed her 2nd round of chemo (cisplatin & etopiside) Today she is starting to take Reshi extract in hopes of stimulating her immune system. We've read alot about it & hope this will help. Can anyone advise as to whether this will harm or interfere with the actions of her chemo treatment?
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mikes · Senior User Joined: 25 Jul 2005 Posts: 143

Jaypee,

It is difficult to find authoritative information on questions like this.

Ironically, I just finished looking for interactions between Tarceva, Melatonin, and PSK mushroom extract.

I did find a couple of links for you, but I can't vouch for their validity.

Some articles claim that the various mushrooms as well as melatonin help reduce the side effects of chemotherapy as well as having anti-cancer properties of their own. PubMed has a number of articles on melatonin and PSK mushroom extract in conjunction with various types of chemotherapy. PubMed is considered to be quite authoritative.

Also, I just checked PubMed for reshi. They spell it "reishi" and have 30 articles on "reishi chemotherapy"

The link to Pubmed is:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?DB=pubmed

Mike

http://members.tripod.com/~herbs_1/historic

http://www.healthy.co.nz/ailment.phtml?s=42F940C91101299218179&code=1034

Jaypee · Posted: Sun Dec 11, 2005 3:24 pm Post subject: Helpful info

Mikes...thankyou, you've been very helpful...I'll let you know how it goes for my sister.

Jaypee
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Jaypee · Posted: Sun Dec 11, 2005 3:34 pm Post subject: Question about PET SCAN

Mikes, while I have you here. Could you tell me what a PET SCAN is? Here in Canada, it apparently costs about $2500.00. My sister has had all the other scans available, covered by our health care system, ie: CAT scan, bone scan but PET scans were apparently available in Canada some years ago, then they were somehow "rid off" for a while (not sure why). My sister, received a phone call from a hosptial in London, Ontario saying her radiologist from Windsor had ordered her this PET scan, said something about sugars etc. She's not clear on it's function. Are you able to enlighten us?

Thanks Jaypee.
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mikes · Senior User Joined: 25 Jul 2005 Posts: 143

Jaypee,

While I'm certainly not an authority on PET Scans, they are one of several modern diagnostic tools to determine certain facts about the condition of a patient.

CAT scans are X-Rays administered in a circle around a part of the body. The "circle" is then advanced a very short distance and the X-Rays repeated, and so on. The result is a "picture" of that area as if the person were "sliced" in half and a picture taken. This is accomplished by mathematically reconstructing data from the X-Ray detector(s). The process of this slice reconstruction is known as axial tomography.

Nuclear Medicine works by injecting a radioactive isotope into the bloodstream and then scaning the body for radiation with gamma cameras. This scanning detects the radiation much the same as a standard X-Ray machine's film detects X-Rays (no axial tomography).

The PET Scan appears to be a combination of these techniques. Like in Nuclear Medicine, the patient is injected with a radioactive isotope, but the detection of the radiation from the patient's body and organs is done using the principle of axial tomography with the difference that the PET Scan is detecting positrons and the CAT Scan is detecting X-Rays.

In oncology, the term bone scan refers to a Nuclear Medicine scan in which the bones affected with a lesion show up more easily than they do on a CAT scan or standard X-Ray.

Each of these techniques reveals some unique information.

MRI is still another method used to determine what is "going on" inside a patient. It works using magnetic resonance from an exremely powerful magnet and special detectors. Ultrasound used sonic waves to "see inside" the patient. Both MRI and Ultrasound can also "see" movement.

Standard X-Ray and Ultrasound tend to be inexpensive, while CAT Scans, Pet Scans, and MRI's tend to be quite expensive. This is mostly because the clinic has to recover the cost of this very expensive equipment and also because of the demand on the machine's use. Even in countries with state sponsered medical care the use of the expensive technologies tends to be rationed due to institutional budget constraints.

As far as the sugars part is concerned, this has to do with what type of radioactive isotope is to be used. The most common type is one that binds to body sugars. This allows a particular type of tracing. Water and ammonia are the other common types.

Hope this helps, and that your Sister gets better.

Mike

Jaypee · Posted: Mon Dec 12, 2005 1:12 am Post subject: Re: Reshi mushroom extract

Mike,

THANKYOU.

Jaypee
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Wisdom, Serenity and Courage.

adr22367 · Experienced user Joined: 17 May 2005 Posts: 78

I think a PET scan is best because it actually lights up on the cancer. My Dad started melantonin, but had to stop because he takes prednisone. He is now drinking NONONONO tea three times a day. I know 2 people who have been drinking this for 2 years and one is now cancer free, the other's tumor has shrunk a great deal.

Christophe · Regular Joined: 19 Jan 2006 Posts: 10

I found some more authoritative sources that showed more studies were done on the Reishi supplement:

International Journal of Oncology:
http://147.52.72.117/IJO/2004/volume24/number5/1093.pdf

Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New-York:
http://www.mskcc.org/mskcc/html/11571.cfm?RecordID=425&tab=HC

It appears as the Reishi supplement does not directly interfere with drugs since it is categorized as an adaptogen. Selection of the right source of Reishi is crucial in order to benefit its therapeutic values. Email me or leave a post if you need some procurement sources for Reishi.

Christophe · Regular Joined: 19 Jan 2006 Posts: 10

Fresh off the press...

PubMed article on Cedars-Sinai Medical Center findings - Ganoderma Lucidum (Reishi) causes apoptosis in leukemia, lymphoma and multiple myeloma cells. This announcement was just published last week Jan. 16 2006:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=16423392&query_hl=6&itool=pubmed_docsum

Hope this relevant article would help. Also do a search on PubMEd http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?CMD=search&DB=pubmed on Ganoderma or reishi.

Email me for some procurement sources of Reishi Ganoderma

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