Coricepium

Research efforts during the past 30 years into the use of immune-regulating polysaccharides (a component of many herbs, in high concentration in only a few) has resulted in use of these materials for cancer patients and other suffering from bone marrow insufficiency and weakened immunity. Coriolus is the mushroom that has been widely investigated in Japan )in form of an extract called PSK, short for polysaccharide Krestin) for aiding cancer patients; its functions are the same as other medicinal mushrooms. Ganoderma and cordyceps are widely used in China to protect against adverse effects of cancer therapies and for general improvement of the constitution and immune system. Astragalus and lycium fruit are among the most commonly prescribed non-mushroom herbs with polysaccharides and are given for the same purpose. Highly concentrated extracts (containing from 20-40% polysaccharides from the mushrooms) are used to obtain an adequate amount of the polysaccharides. According to studies carried out in the Orient, the dosage of immune-regulating polysaccharides needed to obtain the desired level of clinical response is about 0.5-3.5 grams per day. This amount can be obtained from about 1-6 tablets of the above formula. There is some evidence that every other day dosing (at the higher amount, e.g., 6 tablets) will still provide benefits; daily dosing can be used during chemotherapy and radiation treatments. High dosage polysaccharides used for simple immune enhancement (without evident bone-marrow suppression) over a long period of time (several months) may cause resistance to their effects; instead, use the complex her formulas for that purpose (e.g., Gynostemma Tablets, Composition-A, Astragalus 10). *