It feels like there is nowhere to turn. Every which way someone new has cancer. While promising medications appear every few years, without fail the newest additions to the medical talent show somehow turn out to be rotten tomatoes. Maybe they cost a lot or just do not work, or both.
Well, now there is a new entrant that actually works, a parasitic fungus that is only found on Tibetan caterpillars. They are very promising, potentially a harvestable source that could put the breaks on the worldwide cancer epidemic. These fungi are known as Cordyceps, in particular, Cordyceps Sinensis.
It is known better from its roots within traditional Chinese medicine as a time-honored, reliable, and very powerful treatment such as one many Westerners may have heard it referred to — Dong Chong Xia.
While the cordyceps have been in use in China since 1500 on the books, the use of the fungi probably predates this. For the most part, it is used to re-energize people and provide immune system support, though it also has long held a cherished role in treating much more complex and serious medical issues, such as COPD and kidney failure.
Where Do Cordyceps Come From, Again?
Cordyceps are produced by an action of insect and fungus. Dead insect larvae stay put on caterpillars in Tibet. Because the gunbu, aweto, yartsu, and semitake, as they are also known are so distant, they are often grown outside of Tibet.
Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center even recognizes the antitumor effects of cordyceps along with its radioprotective, and antidiabetic properties.
It turns out that cordyceps can magnify cancer drugs to make cancer cells die at a more pronounced rate. It may lengthen the life of lymphocytes, boost the T-cells, cut tumor growth while promoting the properties of the body’s own killer cells.
International Journal of Medicinal Mushroom supports Memorial Sloan Kettering’s findings and goes on to write that the cordyceps have properties that support healthy cell growth by containing essential fatty acids, among others.
The nucleoside is where the secret to the cordyceps’ anticancer properties resides.
In another study, published in Cancer Chemotherapy and Pharmacology, cordycepin was proven to have an apoptotic impact on oral cancer, which means the mouth cancer cells self-destructed when exposed to cordycepin.
The studies are happily showing the positive benefits of cordyceps. Another study in Cell Proliferation, from 2009 demonstrated two new anticancer aspects from the cordyceps: 1. gliocladicillins A and 2.gliocladicillins B. Both halted the growth of cancer cells that led to self-destruction.
For the purposes of providing its cancer-fighting ability for people every day, the recommended intake of cordyceps of up to 3 grams daily.
Those who are on blood thinners or have diabetes need to avoid taking this. Consult with a medical practitioner before taking cordyceps preventatively or to treat cancer. Always buy cordyceps from reputable makers because bad batches have been known to be contaminated with lead.
Look to the ancient Chinese medicine for cures and treatments, right in botanicals. In this case, fungi might just be what the doctor orders.
