Mushrooms and claims for miracle cures fo... - Healthy Evidence

Healthy Evidence

3,057 members436 posts

Mushrooms and claims for miracle cures for cancer

Chris_Peters profile image
Chris_PetersSense About Science
2 Replies

Dr Kat Arney from Cancer Research UK makes some really useful points in this article about how you shouldn't jump to conclusions based on evidence gathered using laboratory experiments:

"When it's something like food, people get really excited and say: 'Does it mean if I eat enough of these things, it will have this effect on me?' It doesn't really work that way because you don't know about the dose, you don't know whether by eating something it's bio-available - meaning it can get from the inside of your tummy into your bloodstream and into the tumour in a dose that's actually relevant. That's the trouble".

theguardian.com/lifeandstyl...

Written by
Chris_Peters profile image
Chris_Peters
Sense About Science
To view profiles and participate in discussions please or .
2 Replies
progeny profile image
progeny

Since clinical research became almost impossible many institutions,incl Columbia Pres in New York, onlypermission for 'epidemilogical studies' given. These are difficult to evaluate, almost impossible to compare with true 'controls'give rise to misleading statistics and nonsense headlines. I was told I could not have salt with my egg at famous London hospital, whilst receiving infusion containing 9 G in my arm! Prof S Feldman

Bioburden profile image
Bioburden

Dr Karney is right to draw a distinction between lab and human data, but several human trials are referred to in the Guardian article. Furthermore, Krestin, a purified extract or Coriolus (trametes) versicolor) is a licensed pharmaceutical in Japan and has been subject to a number of clinical trials, so this evidence base has been developed beyond laboratory or epidemiology data.

You may also like...

Probiotics - many dubious health claims

written my piece on probiotics, which covers the few uses for which there is evidence of benefit....

I'm new here, possibility of cancer & how to make my gp take me seriously?

dismissing me. But I'm concerned because if it is something serious (as my first gp mentioned back...

What evidence supports this proposal?

Much of today's news (other than something to do with Europe, Scotland, coal, ...) is filled with...

A Greenpeace campaign about “toxic chemicals in clothes” prompted us to ask some questions.

and Environmental Hazards to ask if this was something we should be worried about. They told us that

How to read health news

Trying to make decisions about your health based on what you've seen in the media can be a very...