Vonnies Health Spot

SHIITAKE MUSHROOMS: ANOTHER SUPERFOOD?

Refined components of shiitake mushrooms have been used in various kinds of cosmetics for a few years now, but researchers at the University of Tokyo Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences have found that active hexose correlated compound (AHCC) appears to enhance the effect of the human body’s natural killer (NK) cells almost immediately upon ingestion. The result of a complex fermentation, sterilization, concentration and freeze-drying process that breaks the nutrients down into an extremely low molecular weight, AHCC is easily absorbed through the walls of the small intestine.

The compound is made from the mycelium (the mass of threadlike tubes in the vegetative part of the mushroom) and is used every day in Japanese hospitals as an accompaniment to mainstream treatment for cancer. It is still not as well known in western countries, but is currently the subject of a great deal of research at universities in the United States, China, Korea and Thailand. So far, it seems that AHCC is an effective weapon in the fight against cancer, hepatitis, glaucoma, diabetes, cardiac conditions and autoimmune diseases. The compound seems to help the body combat viruses, bacteria and parasitic infections.

Research is ongoing, but some of the reported data are:

➢    AHCC helps strengthen the immune system during cancer chemotherapy.
➢    AHCC seems to reduce tumor mass, stop tumor growth, increase survival time and generally improve quality of life.
➢    Myelosuppression (reduced bone marrow function) is a side effect of chemotherapy that leads to anemia. AHCC seems to protect bone marrow during treatment.
➢    Anecdotal reports from patients taking AHCC during chemotherapy say that they maintained hair volumn, had less nausea and vomiting, and improved appetite.
➢    In cases of autoimmune diseases, AHCC seemed to slow the progression of diseases like rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, multiple sclerosis and Crohn’s disease by strengthening cellular immunity; however research in this area is not complete and is continuing.

For more information, key “AHCC” into your search engine.

NEW LASER SEEMS LIKE SCI-FI, BUT IT’S HERE TODAY!

How would you like to have an energy beam directed on your body that could kill invasive microorganisms that were making you sick? No drugs or antibiotics, just pulses from an infrared laser? Sound like something out of Star Trek? Well maybe so, but we don’t have to wait for the future to reap the advantages, because the device, called the Femtosecond laser, is here now!

Physicists in Arizona State University have designed a revolutionary laser technique that can destroy viruses and bacteria without damaging human cells. The principle is based on the fact that human cells have differently structured protein coats from the invading cells. The Femtosecond laser pulses, through a process called Impulsive Stimulated Raman Scattering (ISRS), produce vibrations in the protein coat of the disease-producing organisms, something like the effect of a high-pitched noise shattering glass. This destroys the bacteria and viruses, leaving the body cells undamaged.

“Although it is not clear at the moment why there is a large difference in laser intensity for inactivation between human cells and microorganisms such as bacteria and viruses, the research so far suggests that ISRS will be ready for use in disinfection and could provide treatments against some of the worst, often drug-resistant, bacterial and viral pathogens,” says Professor K.T. Tsen from Arizona State University.

Hospitals could be using the Femtosecond laser now to disinfect blood supply or other biomaterials and for the treatment of blood-borne diseases such as AIDS and Hepatitis.

This information comes from Institute of Physics (2007, November 2). Revolutionary Laser Technique Destroys Viruses And Bacteria Without Damaging Human Cells. ScienceDaily. Retrieved November 4, 2007, from http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/11/071101084950.htm

Photo credit: Image courtesy of Institute of Physics.
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