A Brightly Colored Lingzhi Mushroom growing in the wild

Lingzhi mushrooms have successfully been used as herbal medicines for thousands of years and are known as the “Mushroom of Immortality.”

Lingzhi mushrooms are one of the oldest and most effective mushrooms used in traditional Chinese medicine.

They have been effectively used as anti-inflammatories, antivirals, anti-parasitics, anti-fungals, anti-diabetics and anti-hypotensives.They have also been shown to effectively lower blood pressure, cholesterol, and blood sugar.

Lingzhi Mushrooms for Asthma

Numerous studies of Lingzhi mushrooms have established their effectiveness in the treatment of a wide range of diseases and symptoms. The reason I have written about them here (and take them myself), is because of their ability to strengthen the respiratory system and their healing effect on the lungs. It has been shown that Lingzhi mushrooms are particularly beneficial for individuals with asthma, cough and other respiratory complaints.

In an article entitled, “Medicinal Mushrooms”, published in the January/February 1997 Issue of Herbs for Health, written by Christopher Hobbs, a population study conducted in the 1970s is offered as validation confirming this claim.

The article describes a population study conducted on more than 2000 Chinese with chronic bronchitis. They were instructed to consume Lingzhi mushroom syrup over a period of two weeks. Approximately 90% of this population reported significantly improved breathing as well as improved appetite.

Lingzhi mushrooms have also been successfully used in cardiovascular treatment, in bronchitis prevention, in the treatment of high blood pressure, hepatitis, HIV support, fatigue, allergies, chemotherapy support, altitude sickness, and high triglycerides. Due to the presence of triterpenes, lingzhi mushrooms are understood as an adaptogenic, anti-allergenic and anti-hypertensive.

Lingzhi mushrooms are soft, corky, and flat polypores. They have a kidney shaped, red varnished cap. Lingzhi mushrooms lack gills on their underside, and instead depending on their age, have white to dull brown fine pores, which they use to release their spores, the very reason their morphological classification is polypores.

Lingzhi mushrooms are classified into six categories, according to The Chinese Herbal Materia Medica, depending on their respective shape and color. Each of the six categories is said to nourish a different part of the body:

1. White Lingzhi Mushroom – Lungs and skin
2. Black Lingzhi Mushroom – Kidneys and Brain
3. Green Lingzhi Mushroom – Liver
4. Purple Lingzhi Mushroom – Joints
5. Yellow Lingzhi Mushroom – Spleen.
6. Red Lingzhi Mushroom – Heart

Lingzhi mushrooms can be consumed in high doses with other medications due to their generally slight side effects. Lingzhi has been shown to enhance the immune system and lessen nervous tension, which may help normalize and balance the body.

Lingzhi mushroom formulations are easily prepared. Simmering thinly sliced or pulverized Lingzhi mushrooms in a pot of boiling water for two hours is the traditional method. The resulting liquid is normally bitter in taste, with the less active black Lingzhi mushroom tasting less bitter than the more active red Lingzhi mushroom. The liquid can also be used to make an extract in liquid, capsule, or powder form, and be added to a formula decoction.

Some studies have shown that long-term use of Lingzhi mushrooms (approximately 4 months) can result in very mild side effects. These have included stomach upset, nosebleed, and dryness of the nasal passages, mouth and throat. These side effects were completely avoided by discontinuing the use of Lingzhi mushrooms for approximately 1 month after taking them for four months, then taking them again for four months.

Lingzhi mushrooms are available for sale all over the world. Both polysaccharides, and triterpenoids are available as a hot water extract and an alcohol extract. Lingzhi mushroom extracts may also be called reishi, reishi mushroom, ganoderma, ling zhi, and ling-zhi.

Buy Lingzhi Mushroom extract:

I’ve also written an article about OPC Antioxidants which briefly describes the benefits of grape seed extract and pine bark extract. OPC’s used in combination with Lingzhi have proven to be an effective one-two punch for some asthma sufferers.

Lingzhi – Mushroom of Immortality was originally posted on: Asthma Treatment and Management Information - Azmacare.com

Related Articles:

1. ASHMI Asthma Treatment
2. Clear Breathing with Chinese Herbs
3. Licorice Root – A Great Tasting Asthma Reliever

ASHMI Asthma Treatment is made up of Ling Zhi, Ku Shen & Gan Cao

ASHMI Asthma Treatment was developed by Dr. Xiumin Li of the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York, in collaboration of Dr. Hugh Sampson, also from the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York, as a simplified version of a traditional Chinese herbal combination of 14 herbs known as MSSM-002.

ASHMI Asthma Treatment was formulated on the basis of actions of the individual herbs in MSSM-002 according to traditional Chinese medicine formulation concepts designed by Weifang Pharmaceutical Manufacturing.

Does it work?

I became interested in ASHMI after hearing the buzz about the results of a landmark double-blind study conducted in China in 2005 by researchers from the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York, the Weifang Asthma Hospital and the Weifang School of Medicine.

“Taken together, the findings of this study show that ASHMI is effective and well-tolerated in nonsteroid-dependent patients with moderate to severe persistent asthma,” the researchers concluded.

The study was published in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology (vol. 116, issue 3), the results of which are so promising that senior researcher Dr. Xiu-Min Li commented “This is the first well-controlled study in which an anti-asthma Chinese herbal medicine has been found to be as effective as a corticosteroid drug.” Li added that “additional clinical studies of ASHMI in the United Sates are planned. ASHMI may become an important addition to currently used drugs for asthma.”

The ASHMI trial lasted 4 weeks and included 91 human subjects with moderate to severe persistent asthma. 46 patients received 12 ASHMI capsules per day, each one containing 0.3 grams of dried aqueous extract. The total daily dosage was equivalent to 20 grams of raw Ling Zhi – Reishi Mushrooms, 9 grams of Ku Shen – Sophora Root, and 3 grams of Gan Cao – Licorice Root.

Patients in this group also received placebo tablets similar in appearance to prednisone. The other 46 patients in the placebo group received 20 mg of prednisone per day, and placebo capsules resembling ASHMI.

ASHMI Study – The results.

The subjects’ lung function, IgE levels, side effects, cytokine levels and serum cortisol levels were measured before and after treatment. Although both groups showed significant improvement in lung function, the effects of prednisone group were slightly greater. More importantly, both groups showed a significant and similar reduction in symptoms and a reduced need for beta-2 bronchodilator therapy.

The significance of that result is that both agents were almost equally effective in treating asthma. The ASHMI group had no adverse effects on adrenal function, fewer patients experienced gastric discomfort and they received a beneficial effect on TH1 and TH2 cytokine levels. The prednisone group showed significant weight gain after four weeks of treatment and experienced much higher levels of gastric discomfort.

The researchers commented that the mechanisms underlying the herbal formula’s remarkable effects are largely unknown, but are most likely the result of synergistic effects of its three Chinese herb combination.

What’s next?

In February of 2009, the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) announced the funding of three Centers of Excellence which will explore therapies used in traditional Chinese medicine, including acupuncture and Chinese herbal mixtures.

One of the selected centers will be called the “Center for Chinese Herbal Therapy” located at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, NY. The principal Investigator is Xiu-Min Li, M.D. The researchers are responsible for investigating ASHMI as a therapy for allergic asthma. Studies of ASHMI will look at mechanism of action in an animal model, characterize the herbs’ active components, and investigate the formula’s use in human asthma patients.

[UPDATE] Based on the remarkable results attained by ASHMI, the “Allergy Research Group,” which markets products under the brand name “Nutricology,” have formulated “PhytoCort” which is a proprietary blend of the original ASHMI formulation, along with a fourth herb commonly known as noni (Morinda citrifolia), which I suspect was added as an attempt to get around potential patent disputes.

My wife and I have replaced our “home made” ASHMI Asthma Treatment formulation with Phytocort and we highly recommend you do the same.

Buy ASHMI Asthma Treatment (PhytoCort):

ASHMI Asthma Treatment was originally posted on: Asthma Treatment and Management Information - Azmacare.com

Related Articles:

1. Clear Breathing with Chinese Herbs
2. MSSM-002 Chinese Herbal Asthma Treatment
3. Kushen – Sophora Root

• ling zhi (ganoderma lucidum), 6 g
• gan cao (radix glycyrrhizae), 6 g
• ku shen (radix sophorae flavascentis), 9 g
• su zi (fructus perillae frutescentis), 9 g
• ting li zi (semen lepidii), 9 g
• xing ren (semen pruni armeniacae), 9 g
• huang qin (radix scutellariae baicalensis), 9 g
• dang gui (radix angelicae sinensis), 9 g
• bai shao (radix paeoniae lactiflorae), 9 g
• ge gen (radix puerariae), 9 g
• jie geng (radix platycodi grandiflori), 6 g
• zhen zhu mu (concha margaritifera), 6 g
• da zao (fructus ziziphi jujubae), 5 pieces
• sheng jiang (rhizoma zingiberis officinalis), 6 g

It was formulated and used by Dr. Xiumin Li at the Sino-Japan Friendship Hospital in Beijing. It is also the basis from which Dr. Li created her ASHMI Asthma Treatment herbal combination.

MSSM-002 Chinese Herbal Asthma Treatment was originally posted on: Asthma Treatment and Management Information - Azmacare.com

Related Articles:

1. ASHMI Asthma Treatment
2. Clear Breathing with Chinese Herbs
3. Kushen – Sophora Root