Medicinal mushrooms

[CLLrochdale66]

Medicinal mushrooms, eg eg reishi, shitaki, turkey tail, maitaki and others have been used for hundreds of years in Japan and Asia for lung disease and cancer. They are thought to modulate the immune system and possibly induce apoptosis, and inhibit abnormal cell growth and angiogenesis. Could they be relevant to CLL and are they safe for someone who is no longer on treatment due to being unable to tolerate side effects.

[lankisterguy Volunteer]

Hi CLLrochdale66,-

Please read this Pinned Post & follow the imbedded links in the replies, especially the long detailed reply from AussieNeil

healthunlocked.com/cllsuppo...

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In general there is sparse detailed information on most of the active components of mushrooms, and those that impact the immune system might cause CLL cells to multiply- just the opposite of what we want.

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Here is an explanation of why anectodal evidence can be misleading:

healthunlocked.com/cllsuppo...

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Len

[CLLrochdale66 in reply to lankisterguy]

Thank you for the information, Steve

[caven]

CLLrochdale66:

There's very useful info specific to the mushrooms you mention at healthunlocked.com/cllsuppo...

The bottom-line? While the beta-glucan content <might> be useful for tamping down the negative effect of solid tumors, when the cancer is circulating in the blood you will make your CLL worse by indulging in those 'shrooms.'

Read that post for details, I suggest.

Caven

[CLLrochdale66 in reply to caven]

Thank you for the information, Steve

[Hidden]

I tried Reishi mushroom extract a few years, I don’t know for certain it was the cause, but I had a horrific reaction. I have since read , don’t ask me where, that the ingredients in most mushroom extracts are notoriously unreliable. Some preparations contain none of the claimed ingredient. I would never try it again.

[CLLrochdale66 in reply to Hidden]

Thank you for the information, Steve

[danimal7777]

I would be very, very cautious about enzyme CYP3A4 involvement by any given mushroom. If the mushroom ingredients impose on CYP3A4 for metabolism, you can be poisoned by ibrutinib build-up due to its inability to be metabolized and passed out of the system.

[CLLrochdale66 in reply to danimal7777]

Thank you for the information, Steve

[Hidden]

nutraingredients-usa.com/Ar... .

[AussieNeil Partner Administrator in reply to Hidden]

From the quoted article:-

75% of Reishi supplements don’t actually contain Reishi mushroom, says United States Pharmacopeial Convention (USP) analysis

“It would be disappointing to see the interest in medicinal mushrooms disappear because of quality issues with the products on the market”​

Commenting on the study's findings, Stefan Gafner, PhD, Chief Science Officer at the American Botanical Council, told NutraIngredients-USA: “Overall, this is a thorough chemical analysis of the 19 reishi supplements. Looking at the samples, the authors have analyzed 6 samples of powdered fruiting body, one sample of fruiting body with added polysaccharides, 11 various extracts, and one sample of mycelium. The fact that only 26.3% of the tested products were found to be authentic suggests a need for improved quality control measures. While it is acknowledged that the sample size in this study is limited, the samples seem to be fairly representative of the US market according to the authors.​

I initially thought that despite this similar story from 6 years ago, nothing much has changed.

NY Attorney General accuses major retailers of selling contaminated, substituted and falsely labelled herbal supplements

healthunlocked.com/cllsuppo...

However, the story about only 26.3% of Reishi supplements containing Reishi mushroom was reported in the same timeframe, from supplements purchased in February and March 2015. An update from 2017, notes “More and more companies are specifically stating that their products do not contain mycelium or grain or starch,” ​he said. “This is especially true of newer and younger companies that are truly interested in finding the highest quality raw materials."

Seems that you need to carefully read the fine print and hope that supplier has decided to be more forthcoming in describing what they are selling.

Along the lines of what Len/lankisterguy said above, "In general there is sparse detailed information on most of the active components of mushrooms, and those that impact the immune system might cause CLL cells to multiply- just the opposite of what we want."

Neil

[CLLrochdale66 in reply to AussieNeil]

Thank you for your reply, Steve