Tell Americans that a dish contains “mushrooms” and their minds automatically jump to button mushrooms (Agaricus bisporus), which have been grown commercially in the West since the 1600′s. In contrast, individuals from Far East Asia are far more likely to jump to Shiitake as the most logical ingredient. Shiitake, which has only recently become a common household name in the West, has a long history of commercial cultivation in Asia.

Also known as Chinese Mushroom or Black Mushroom, wild Shiitake is strictly an Asian species. It derives its name from one of its hosts, the Shii Tree, but can also be found growing on Asian oaks and beeches. Cultivating Shiitake is a tradition that stretches back approximately 1000 years in China.

Increasingly recognized in the West as a culinary mushroom, few westerners are yet aware of the medical applications of Shiitake. In Asia, it has a long tradition as a medicinal mushroom going back to the Ming Dynasty (AD 1368-1644) and the Chinese physician Wu Juei, who recommended it for conditions of the liver, respiratory and circulatory systems. Shiitake is also the most commonly studied mushroom in modern medical research, with special focus on its anti-tumor [94] and anti-viral properties. [93]

When it comes to medicinal use of Shiitake, the preferred part to use is the mycelium (the “roots”) not the fruit body (“mushroom”). The mycelium contains a higher concentration of medicinal compounds, some of which may not be found at all in the fruit body.

The most common extract is known as LEM, a protein extract from Lentinula Edodes Mycelia. (Lentinula edodes is Latin for Shiitake.) LEM has been shown to have powerful immune boosting properties, [95, 96, 97] particularly anti-bacterial. [98, 99] LEM has also been found to exhibit anti-cancer properties. [100] One study found it to kill melanoma cells while causing no harm to healthy cells. [101]

Lentinan is the name of another much researched compound isolated from Shiitake, named after the Latin genus name Lentinula. Lentinan is a polysaccharide that has been found to stimulate the human immune system to combat cancer. [102, 103, 104, 105, 106, 107, 108, 109, 110] It is currently used in Asia as an intravenous cancer drug.

Arabinoxylanes of Shiitake extract derived from rice cultivated mycelium have been shown to have powerful anti-viral properties. [111, 112, 113]

Two viruses in particular that have been studied with promising results are herpes simplex type 1 [114] and HIV [115, 116, 117]. It should be mentioned, however, that the previously mentioned Lentinan as an isolated compound does not appear to affect HIV replication. [25]

Other studies worth a brief mention have reported positive findings in the use of Shiitake extract to prevent septic shock, [120] and to treat Candida [118] and chronic fatigue syndrome. [119]

Foremost American medicinal mushroom expert Paul Stamets, in his book Mycelium Running, lists several additional areas where research has indicated that Shiitake may be useful: Cholesterol; blood sugar, blood pressure; sexual dysfunction; kidney health; stress; liver support; prostate cancer; liver cancer; breast cancer. [134]

Note: The statements on this page have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This article is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. Always consult a licensed medical practitioner before using any herb (or mushroom) for medicinal purposes.

Credits: Thank you, Paul Stamets, for research references.

There are differences in life expectancy figures after a diagnosis of cancer. In general countries tend not to discuss the results as life expectancy because causal factors such as the environment and lifestyle have an affect on the results. Life styles are important indicators of general health but the US fares badly in lifestyle comparisons when compared to other countries partly because of their obesity levels across all ages and races. US health authorities prefer to look at the statistical figures as cancer survival statistics because they look better statistically.

However health care has a multidimensional aspect and quantitative analysis type that produces statistics and comparison. In order to have a meaningful comparisons you have to compare like from like. However these comparisons are not always possible. Less people smoke statistically in the US, but they are morel likely to be obese. If raw comparisons are going to be made it may be better to look at life expectancy rather than survival rates.

Maybe the first questions people ask when first diagnosed with cancer is about their prognosis, and the question they are really asking is how long are they are going to survive? Cancer survival rates or cancer survival statistics predict the percentage of people who survive a certain type of cancer for a specified number of years. These figures are compiled from national statistics of people from all ages and backgrounds that have your type of cancer and they use a five-year survival rate as the first bench mark. They include those that were diagnosed early and those that the diagnosis was not made until the late stages of cancer.

However statistics of cancer survival cannot tell you everything. For instance the five year survival rates do not specify whether the patients are in remission or whether or not they are still receiving treatment. Some patients have a disease free survival rates which means that their cancer has been cures. Others have had some success with treatment but they are not free of the disease.

Nature of the statistic is the fact that they are predicting a probability in the population at large, therefore thousands and thousands of people have to be studied, but that does not have any bearing on your individual prognosis. Both you are your neighbor can have breast cancer or prostate cancer and they can both be in the same stage at the same time. However that does not meant that your prognosis is the same at any point.

Different factors should be considered:Genetic factors, lifestyle changes, a positive attitude, an ability and willingness to look at alternative treatments and be open about the outcome will all have a profound defect on your chances of beating cancer. It is just that no more no less a statistic and for that reason may people choose to successfully ignore cancer survival statistics, because there is no reason at all that they should have any bearing on your outcome.

Cancer survival rates varies according to whatever type of cancer you have and also the stage that it is diagnosed. One of the worst cancer statistics anywhere in the world is lung cancer. Published 5-year survival for patients with lung cancer varies from 5% to 16% internationally. One of the reasons that the cancer survival rates differ so widely is the fact that the statistical information is not always in the public domain, and each individual study collects and interprets the data differently according to the abstract of the study. In other words each cancer statistic is as unique as you are. Data from the US indicates a 5-year survival rate of up to 16% although this figure cannot be relied on because it excludes seventy five percent of the population, so as a statistic it does not apply to the population as a whole. To make a real comparison of mortality rates for cancer survival rates is no different from making valid statistical evidence in any other disease, the data has to have been collected and examined in the same way. ( Respiratory Medicine, Volume 100, Issue 9, Pages 1642-1646 C. Butler, K. Darragh, G. Currie, W. Anderson, Respiratory Medicine, Volume 100, Issue 9, Pages 1642-1646). Being frightened by statistics or even worse believing statistics can affect how you survive or not your cancer.

Changing the Face of Cancer Survival Statistics

Statistics come down to risks at the end of the day and your risk of getting cancer. In the United States the statistics for lung cancer reveal that it kills more people than those that die from breast cancer, prostate cancer, colon cancer and cervical cancer combined. However that is due to the fact that there is widespread screening beyond a certain age for prostrate, breast and cervical cancer.

The New England Journal of Medicine of October 26, 2006 reported that eighty percent of deaths from lung cancer were potentially avoidable. Spiral computed tomography (CT) scanning has the potential to detect lung cancer at its early stage 1 stage, at this stage it is a curable cancer. The reason that the mortality rates for lung cancer are so bleak is the fact that by the time most people realize that they have lung cancer it is too far advanced to do anything about it. The initial study was carried out at the New York Weill Cornell Medical Center during 1993 and has subsequently expanded into an international study of 38 institutions in 7 countries and become known as the International Early Lung Cancer Action Project (I-ELCAP).

Surgery is effective in curing lung cancer its stage 1, later it is too advanced to make much difference and the reason that the cancer rate survival statistics are so dismal is the fact that it is rarely detected at stage 1. Later studies from 1993 to 2005 in the United States, Europe, Israel, China, and Japan screened 31,567 asymptomatic persons at high risk for lung followed by repeat screenings in 27,456 of these individuals. 484 people were diagnosed with lung cancer, and 412 or 85% of these were Stage I. Of the 412 patients with stage I lung cancer, 302 underwent surgical solutions within four weeks and within this group, the survival rate was 92%. The estimated 10 year survival rate for the 484 participants with lung cancer was over 80 percent that is the highest percentage for survival ever recorded in a lung cancer study. In contrast the statistical cancer five year survival rates for stage IV lung cancer can be as low as 5%.

Some chose not to receive treatment and all these people were dead within five years. All the participants were at risk of lung cancer as they were all older than forty and either they smoked or had smoked or they were exposed to known carcinogenic substances such as asbestos, uranium, radon or beryllium, uranium or radon, or they had occupations which exposed them to passive smoking. As with anything else the cost effectiveness of the screening has to be measured against the cost of treatment. It costs twice as much to treat lung cancer in its late stages than it does for stage 1 treatment. The charge for a low dose CT screening scan is between $200 – $300. New technology has made the screening more effective because when CT was new it was only capable of yielding thirty images now over 600 are possible.

To a certain extent there is resistance to scanning for lung cancer because often it is not regarded as a disease but as a reprimand or retribution. Also there is little consensus as to what constitutes a high risk population, because although it has been known for a century that smoking contributes to lung cancer, by no means all smokers develop lung cancer. However better genetic pointers will be available in the future and that will make it easier to predict exactly those at risk and that will make the possibility of screening more likely.

There are national differences in life expectancy figures after a diagnosis of cancer. In general countries tend not to discuss the results as life expectancy because causal factors such as the environment and lifestyle have an impact on the results. Life styles are important indicators of general health but the US fares badly in lifestyle comparisons when compared to other countries partly because of their obesity levels across all ages and races. US health authorities prefer to look at the statistical figures as cancer survival statistics because statistically they look better.

However health care has a multidimensional aspect and quantitative analysis type that produces statistics and comparison. In order to have a meaningful comparisons you have to compare like from like and yet those comparisons are not always possible. Less people smoke statistically in the US, but they are morel likely to be obese. If raw comparisons are going to be made it may be better to look at life expectancy rather than survival rates.

Maybe the first questions people ask when first diagnosed with cancer is about their prognosis, and the question they are really asking is how long are they are going to survive? Cancer survival rates or cancer survival statistics predict the percentage of people who survive a certain type of cancer for a specified number of years. These figures are compiled from national statistics of people from all ages and backgrounds that have your type of cancer and they use a five-year survival rate as the first bench mark. They include those that were diagnosed early and those that the diagnosis was not made until the late stages of cancer.

However statistics of cancer survival cannot tell you everything. For instance the five year survival rates do not specify whether the patients are in remission or whether or not they are still receiving treatment. Some patients have a disease free survival rates which means that their cancer has been cures. Others have had some success with treatment but they are not free of the disease.

Nature of the statistic is the fact that they are predicting a probability in the population at large, therefore thousands and thousands of people have to be studied, but that does not have any bearing on your individual prognosis. Both you are your neighbor can have breast cancer or prostate cancer and they can both be in the same stage at the same time. However that does not meant that your prognosis is the same at any point.

Genetic factors, lifestyle changes, a positive attitude, an ability and willingness to look at new treatments and be open about the outcome will all have a profound defect on your chances of beating cancer. It is just that no more no less a statistic and for that reason may people choose to successfully ignore cancer survival statistics, because there is no reason at all that they should have any bearing on your outcome.

In 2004 Dr. Christina Liossi, studied eighty children in four groups of twenty in Wales. Two of the groups were treated by hypnosis and anesthetic before undergoing surgical cancer procedures, and two control groups had anesthetic alone. All of the eighty children were aged between six and sixteen. Forty children who were treated by hypnosis were hypnotized by psychologists and were taught to self hypnotize themselves. The children were all asked to rate their pain on a naught to five basis before they were subjected to any treatment, then they were asked to rate it again afterward.

According to Dr Gruzelier, a doctor from Imperial College in London, when people are hypnotized some changes occur. The patients who undergone hypnosis was observed to have fewer symptoms associated as side effects of cancer treatment.

Dr David Spiegel believe that by directing the attention of the patient elsewhere, the patient who undergo hypnosis got less post operative emotional distress and nausea.

“The key concept is that this psychological procedure actually changes pain experience as much as many analgesic medications and far more than placebos.”

More research needs to be carried out before this is likely to be introduced into mainstream cancer treatments. Dr Christina Liossi thinks that hypnosis can prolong the life expectancy of cancer sufferers. However more clinical trials will be necessary to support this. Over the past thirty years, there have been a small number of observational studies and quasi experimental studies which have suggested that psychological factors may influence the outcome of the disease. However there have been no clinical trials that support the idea that any psychosocial interventions have prolonged the time of survival or affected the time of survival.

Less anesthetics, means less money you will spend for drugs. So if you will undergoing surgery, you can ask your doctor about this.

There has been an interest in researching more closely the roles that natural plants play in aiding regulation of balance in the human body. Resveratrol and several other herbal products have gained prominence as researchers uncover ever more exciting properties in terms of human longevity and the potential to treat human disease. Most alkaline based natural plant life, when edible, are extremely potent anti-oxidants.

Resveratrol in particular has proven to be extraordinarily exciting for researchers because of the extended range of diseases it has shown positive results on. The research is not all concluded, but dozens of replicable tests are showing that Resveratrol has positive action in mice and smaller animals. They share a large portion of the human DNA.

There are even strong hints that lifestyle type diseases such as Diabetes Type 2 and symptoms leading to high blood pressure may react positively to Resveratrol. Since the 1940′s the Knotweek plant, native to Japan has been one of the primary natural sources of Resveratrol. Resveratrol is now available in convenient capsule form.

One of the paths that first led modern researchers to examine Resveratrol in a different light within the past decade has been the emergence of what some are calling the French Paradox. The French truly have lower incidences of high blood pressure and heart attacks on average as a population than many others in the western world. This revelation prompted many researchers including the French themselves to examine their diet(s) for differences.

The search led to the love of the French for their red wine. This is often consumed at nearly every dinner and for some patrons almost all meals. Red wine, but not white wine, contains trace amounts of Resveratrol of between 4-6 grams per liter.

Some researches say that by the time the stomach digests or converts this there is too little Resveratrol getting into the blood to make a difference. Others postulate that the French drink so much red wine and so frequently that these small amounts have a very positive ongoing accumulative effect over many years.

Part of the continuing debate about the French paradox is that those who have studied the science say you can’t drink enough Red Wine to get the amounts of Resveratrol required. Getting Resveratrol into your diet in other ways is preferable for most people. Take a resveratrol capsule or two daily and get its many benefits now.

In 2004 Dr. Christina Liossi, studied eighty children in four groups of twenty in Wales. Two of the groups were treated by hypnosis and anesthetic before undergoing surgical cancer procedures, and two control groups had anesthetic alone. All of the eighty children were aged between six and sixteen. Forty children who were treated by hypnosis were hypnotized by psychologists and were taught to self hypnotize themselves. The children were all asked to rate their pain on a naught to five basis before they were subjected to any treatment, then they were asked to rate it again afterward.

Dr Gruzelier of Imperial College in London explained that when people are hypnotized there is a change in the cingulated gyrus, which is located in the left frontal cortex of the brain and this change is discernible during a MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) scanner. The frontal lobe of the brain is concerned with planning and analysis. The cancer patients who had undergone hypnosis underwent had fewer symptoms of nausea, vomiting and pain, and all of these are associated as side effects of cancer treatment.

Breast cancer surgery patients have these side effects fairly often because of the invasive nature of the surgery. Dr Guy Montgomery recruited two hundred breast cancer sufferers to undergo either hypnosis or a consultation with a psychologist before surgery. The women who were hypnotized were also taught how to induce a hypnotic trance themselves. As a result of this, they required less anesthetic but crucially reported less post operative emotional distress, pain fatigue and nausea. Dr David Spiegel, from Stanford University School of Medicine, postulated that the treatment worked by altering the patients perceptions of pain by directing the attention of the mind elsewhere.

“The key concept is that this psychological procedure actually changes pain experience as much as many analgesic medications and far more than placebos.”

This should be put into more clinical trials more before it will be introduce into mainstream of cancer treatment. There is a possibility to prolong the life expectancy of cancer sufferers, according to Dr Christina Liossi.

You wont lose by trying. So if you will be facing surgery you can talk to your doctor and open the idea. It may help you to save more.

Approximately two thirds of patients with lung cancer occur in people who have either quit smoking or never smoked, this dispelling the myth that only people who smoke get cancer.

When people have cancer in the lungs, it is either primary or metastatic. Primary cancer began in the lungs and is made up of lung cells. Metastatic cancer is cancer in the lungs but did not start in the lungs. Rather, cancer started somewhere else in the body and traveled to the lungs. Metastatic cancer is made of cells from the primary cancer site. Because these two types of cancers are made of different kinds of cells, primary and metastatic cancers in the lungs are treated differently.

When patient are diagnosed with lung cancer, there are a number of treatment options including chemotherapy, radiation therapy and surgery. Most of the time, patients receive a combination of all three treatments with chemotherapy and radiation administered before or after surgery. This decision is made based on the location and stage of the cancer and is made by the oncologist and surgeon in consultation with the patient.

For patients whose lung cancer is diagnosed early, surgery before other treatments can be beneficial is the tumor appears confined to an area of the body that is removable). When cancer is diagnosed later, surgery alone becomes less effective and patients usually need several kinds of treatment. While surgery may still be an important part of the treatment plan, however chemotherapy and or radiation therapy may need to come first. For patients whose cancer has progressed to its final stages, palliative surgery can make the patient more comfortable, such as if a tumor is obstructing an airway.

For patients undergoing surgery, there are two options: traditional, open surgery or minimally invasive. In traditional surgery, a surgeon makes an incision on the patient’s side to gain access to the tumor. The incision can be 5 to 7 inches long and requires spreading the patient’s ribs to gain access to the tumor.

Minimally invasive surgery is performed through two incisions which are about two to four centimeters long. Without the need for rib spreading, the surgeon inserts a camera into one incision and projects the inside of the body onto a 26 inch flat screen high definition monitor. Then, the surgeon inserts instruments through the second incision and watches the screen to perform the surgery. This surgery is sometimes called video assisted thoracic surgery, or VATS.

Patients who undergo minimally invasive surgery experience fewer complications and a shorter hospital stay than those who have traditional open surgery. In addition, patients are in the hospital for less time (generally 24-48 hours) and they recover faster with less pain because their ribs were not spread. When patients recovery more quickly, they are able to either return to their normal lives in less time or begin post operative chemotherapy more quickly.

Resveratrol is being marked as the new miracle drug. at the same time it is true that it has been identified to prevent almost every major life-threatening illness, does it possess an effect on your general health? The answer is: Yes! Not only does Resveratrol own an effect on your complete health, but also the effect is certainly positive.

The most important irrefutable effect that it causes on your health is that Resveratrol makes you experience more robust as it enhance your biological strength levels. Secondly, it also increases your digestion, thus helping to maintain your weight. It also balances the sugar level in your body thus avoiding diabetes. Resveratrol also acts an anti-provocative agent. It is known to increase lifespan.

Resveratrol in addition improves your mental strength. It proves active in improving your attention levels and lends you the capability to concentrate for longer spans of time. staying power athletes states that Resveratrol also helps them to rise their distances and reduce the times taken to cycle, run or swim. In short, Resveratrol proves very useful to sports-persons as it assits them to enhance their strength, alertness, stamina and focus.

Resveratrol is helpful even for people engaged in heavy mental job like businessmen, corporate executives, etc. however the consequences found till date are not decisive, it is intensely supposed that Resveratrol enhances the functioning of the brain cells to an amazingly high degree. It is also assumed that it oppose mental tiredness.

With abundant positive effect on the overall health of consumers, it is merely a matter of time before Resveratrol becomes an inevitable portion of everyone’s daily health regime. finally, it is a drug that can help us live healthier lives, both bodily and spiritually, additionally to avoid almost all life-threatening diseases.

Though skin cancer is one of the most common forms of cancer, it is also highly treatable and preventable when taking the right precautions. By monitoring your skin frequently and taking preventative measures (such as using sunblock), you can reduce your risk of getting skin cancer.

The first thing you should do is make sure that you stay out of the sun as much as possible. Stay in the shade and out of direct sunlight whenever possible. Use hats and clothing to keep your skin protected from the harmful effects of the sun.

Be aware that even when the sky is cloudy that you can still suffer from the effects of the sun. It is possible to burn your skin when it is cloudy outside. The same is true with swimming pools. Even if you are in the water, you can easily be sunburned.

Make sure you are wearing plenty of SPF fifteen or more sunscreen every time you go out in the sun. You should also make sure that you reapply it often for ways to prevent skin cancer. If you are sweating or swimming make sure that you reapply after each time.

Children’s skin is even more delicate than your own and therefore must be looked after carefully. However, it is important to remember that children who have not reached 6 months of age cannot wear sunscreen on their skin yet. With that in mind be sure to keep them out of direct sunlight at all times and remember to always keep their skin covered. Warn older children that prolonged unprotected exposure to the sun’s harmful rays can eventually lead to skin cancer and that they would be safer in the shade.

Keep an eye on your skin for any changes to the growths that are preexisting or new ones that appear suddenly. Watch for growths that increase in size or become irregular in shape. You should also watch for transparent or multicolored growths on your skin. If you have wounds or cuts on your skin that will not heal have them checked out by your doctor.

It is important that you examine your skin every month. Even though this should be part of your routine check up at the doctor’s office, it is also important to make it a habit to do so at home as well. This is one of the best ways to prevent skin cancer. Examining your skin on a normal basis will allow you to detect any abnormalities. That way, if you see anything that does not look right, you can get treatment right away before it becomes too serious.