(Inonotus obliquus) Chaga mushroom

[Terpene]

http://www.mskcc.org/cancer-care/herb/chaga-mushroom



http://mushroom-collecting.com/mushroomchaga.html



http://chagamushroom.com/chaga_case_studies.htm

[EDDIEKIRK]

Thanks for this resource.

[PeacePipe]

Nice Eddie , I have some of this in my medicine bag .. Its hell to break it up but it is powerful medicine in the end [img]<fileStore.core_Emoticons>/smile.png[/img]/emoticons/smile@2x.png 2x" width="20" height="20">

[Terpene]

i made a concentrated powder extract, or Chaga Hash [img]/emoticons/yahooimages_th_A2520283829.gif[/img]. Started with grinding it up and long washing it (2 weeks) to evaporate down into a sludge. Then pour the sludge onto foil, to sit on the food dehydrator until the texture goes to a fruit leather, to itshard original rock like texture.Chop up,then dry again until moisture is gone.Put into a UV protectedjar with desiccant. I've been using this in small doses on myself(for chronic pain, inflammation, psoriasis), and a fewfriends are now taking it for their medical conditions. A friend of mine just got 2 cancerous lumps taken out of her thyroid, I showed her the information and she wants to look into it with her doctors as an alternative to radiation.

[Terpene]

Chaga mushroom, found on Birch and other trees in cold climates, has been used in folk medicine in Russia and other North European countries for generations. Chaga draws nutrients from the tree on which it grows and extracts are typically derived from the inner layers of the bark. The active constituents are thought to be a combination of triterpenes, such as betulinic acid, sterols, and polysaccharides. Chaga has demonstrated anticancer, antiviral, antiplatelet ⁽²⁾, anti-inflammatory, analgesic ⁽³⁾, immune stimulating properties in vitro, and hypoglycemic effects in mice ⁽⁴⁾.



Chaga extract has inhibitory and proapoptotic effects against colon cancer ⁽⁵⁾ and hepatoma ⁽¹⁾ cells. It also reduced toxicity associated with radiation ⁽⁶⁾ and inhibited tumor cell growth in animal models ⁽⁷⁾. In some studies, Chaga demonstrates selective apoptosis in tumor cells with no effects on healthy cells ⁽¹⁾.



No clinical trials have been conducted to assess chaga's safety and efficacy for disease prevention or for the treatment of cancer, cardiovascular disease, or diabetes.



Constituents of chaga mushroom extract may interact with anticoagulant and antidiabetic drugs.



<div>Food Sources
<div>Although chaga is an edible fungus, it is not commonly ingested due to its bitter nature. Tea can be made from the whole mushroom.
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<div>Purported Uses
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• Antiviral
  
• Anti-inflammatory
  
• Antimutagenic
  
• Immunostimulation
  
• Cancer treatment
  
• Hepatoprotective
  

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<div>Constituents
<div>Triterpenes: Inotodiol, Lanosterol, Ergosterol, Betulinic acid (Betulin) ⁽¹⁰⁾
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<div>Mechanism of Action
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Chaga demonstrated hypoglycemic effects in mice with diabetes mellitus ⁽⁴⁾. It's anti-inflammatory and pain relieving properties are thought to be via inhibition of nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) ⁽³⁾. An extract of chaga reduced the oxidative stress in lymphocytes from patients with from inflammatory bowel disease ⁽⁸⁾.



Chaga also showed anti-mutagenic properties ⁽⁹⁾.



A hot water extract of chaga exhibited inhibitory and proapoptotic actions against colon cancer cell proliferation via up-regulation of Bax and caspase-3 and down-regulation of Bcl-2 ⁽⁵⁾.



Aqueous extracts of chaga also inhibited growth of human hepatoma cells via arrest of the cell cycle in Go/G1 phase and inducing selective apoptosis ⁽¹⁾.



The selectivity may also be a result of activation from a change in the pH of the tumor microenvironment ⁽¹¹⁾.



Betulinic acid, a constituent of chaga, is cytotoxic and triggers apoptosis through a direct effect on the mitochondria of cancer cells. Other apoptosis-inducing factors result in cleavage of caspases and nuclear fragmentation ⁽⁷⁾.



Like many medicinal mushrooms, chaga is rich in beta glucans which have immunomodulating activities. Beta glucans bind to Complement Receptor 3 (CR3) that allows the immune cells to recognize cancer cells as non-self ⁽¹⁰⁾.

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<div>Adverse Reactions:
<div>None reported.
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<div>Herb-Drug Interactions
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• Antiplatelet or anticoagulant drugs: Chaga extract can inhibit platelet aggregation ⁽²⁾. It may also have additive anticoagulant effects.
  
• Hypoglycemic agents: May have additive effect in lowering blood sugar levels.
  

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<div>References
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Youn MJ, Kim JK, Park SY, et al. Chaga mushroom (Inonotus obliquus) induces G0/G1 arrest and apoptosis in human hepatoma HepG2 cells. World J Gastroenterol. Jan 28 2008;14(4):511-517.

1. Hyun KW, Jeong SC, Lee DH, Park JS, Lee JS. Isolation and characterization of a novel platelet aggregation inhibitory peptide from the medicinal mushroom, Inonotus obliquus. Peptides. Jun 2006;27(6):1173-1178.
2. Park YM, Won JH, Kim YH, et al. In vivo and in vitro anti-inflammatory and anti-nociceptive effects of the methanol extract of Inonotus obliquus. J Ethnopharmacol. Oct 3 2005;101(1-3):120-128.
3. Sun JE, Ao ZH, Lu ZM, et al. Antihyperglycemic and antilipidperoxidative effects of dry matter of culture broth of Inonotus obliquus in submerged culture on normal and alloxan-diabetes mice. J Ethnopharmacol. Jun 19 2008;118(1):7-13.
4. Lee SH, Hwang HS, Yun JW. Antitumor activity of water extract of a mushroom, Inonotus obliquus, against HT-29 human colon cancer cells. Phytother Res. Apr 15 2009.
5. Zhong XH, Ren K, Lu SJ, Yang SY, Sun DZ. Progress of research on Inonotus obliquus. Chin J Integr Med. Apr 2009;15(2):156-160.
6. Youn MJ, Kim JK, Park SY, et al. Potential anticancer properties of the water extract of Inonotus [corrected] obliquus by induction of apoptosis in melanoma B16-F10 cells. J Ethnopharmacol. Jan 21 2009;121(2):221-228.
7. Najafzadeh M, Reynolds PD, Baumgartner A, Jerwood D, Anderson D. Chaga mushroom extract inhibits oxidative DNA damage in lymphocytes of patients with inflammatory bowel disease. Biofactors. 2007;31(3-4):191-200.
8. Ham SS, Kim SH, Moon SY, et al. Antimutagenic effects of subfractions of Chaga mushroom (Inonotus obliquus) extract. Mutat Res. Jan 10 2009;672(1):55-59.
9. Caifa Chen WZ, Gao X, Xiang X, et al. Aqueous Extract of Inonotus obliquus (Fr.) Pilat (Hymenochaetaceae) Significantly Inhibits the Growth of Sarcoma 180 by Inducing Apoptosis. Am J Pharmacol Toxicol. 2007. 2(1):10-17.
10. Shashkina MY, Shashkin PN, Sergeev AV. Chemical and Medicobiological Properties of Chaga (Review). Pharmaceutical Chemistry Journal 2006. 40(10):560-568.
    

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[Terpene]

"Traditionally, chaga has been used for a variety of purposes. Scientific investigation chagas use as an anti-allergy agent shows that in animals, the fungus has the ability to prevent anaphylactic shock a serious and potentially fatal consequence of a severe allergy. In another study, administration of an extract of chaga reduced infection due to the Herpes simplex virus.

In a cell study, chaga showed potent activity against the hepatitis C virus. Whether this same activity will prove true in living humans remains to be seen, but if it does, then chaga will benefit thousands of people who often suffer for many years with this crippling disease."


Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/health/2013/05/29...z2WEemwJFt

[Vinny]

Absolutely WONDERFUL post, Terp! Of course, if it were in actually readable English...lol, no that is great news! Especially for those of us who have had HCV for a long time! Thank you.