5,300 years ago, an injured and starving man from Val Venosta, Italy, fled across an Alpine glacier to escape pursuers. But his enemies caught up with him and with a practiced arrow-shot penetrated his shoulder blade and subclavian artery. Before long, he was dead from blood loss. “Oetzi the Iceman” was found mummified in 1991. On his person were pouches containing mushroom remedies, the oldest known proof in existence of medicinal mushrooms usage.
One of the mushrooms was Birch polypore – Piptoporus betulinus – which it is believed he used as a remedy against intestinal parasites. Eggs of the whipworm parasite (Trichuris trichiura) were found in his intestines. The other mushroom in the possession of Oetzi was Tinder fungus – Fomes fomentarius – which has been traditionally used in Europe to cauterize wounds and stop bleeding.
Both of these are polypores, so named because they have pores instead of gills underneath. No species of polypore is known to be poisonous. They usually grow on trees, dead or alive.
Few polypores are edible because they are hard and fibrous. But people in the Orient as well as the Occident have used them to treat a multitude of diseases for ages. Usually in the form of a tea that would be brewed and drunk; sometimes as a poultice placed on a wound or over an aching body part.
Native American traditions tell of using different kinds of polypore extracts to combat smallpox and other diseases introduced with the arrival of Europeans. This includes Reishi (Ganoderma resinaceum), Chaga (Inonotus obliquus), Birch polypore, and Turkey tail (Trametes versicolor), as well as the now rare and endangered species Agarikon (Fomitopsis officinalis).
As it so happens, Agarikon is also the oldest mushroom referenced in European medical literature. It was listed by Dioscorides in the Materia Medica of 65 B.C. as a treatment for tuberculosis. In confirmation of this, Polish researcher K. Grzywnowics published an article in 2001 titled Medicinal mushrooms in Polish Folk Medicine where he states that Agarikon tea was historically used in his country as a remedy for lung conditions, as well as rheumatoid arthritis, open bleeding and infected wounds.
Up to this point, we’ve only covered the use of medicinal mushrooms in the West. However, their use has been far more widespread in Asia. There are at least three Asian species that would be criminal to leave out of any article on the history of medicinal mushrooms.
First out is Reishi (Ganoderma lucidum), sometimes nicknamed the “Mushroom of Immortality” due to its wide range of healing properties. Reishi was mentioned in Shen Nong’s Herbal Classic from around 2,000 years ago. Many ancient Oriental temples and wood-carvings include images of this highly revered “cure-all” fungus.
Another Chinese medicinal mushroom known as Cordyceps was first described in the 200 A.D. book The Classic Herbal of the Divine Plowman. Cordyceps was, and still is, largely used as an aphrodisiac and to improve physical prowess in athletes, although modern research also indicates many other areas of potential usefulness.
Finally there is Shiitake, the number one gourmet mushroom of the Orient. Shiitake has been cultured in China for approximately 1,000 years as a food. What is less known is that it is also one of the most researched medicinal mushrooms in the world. A polysaccharide extracted from Shiitake is approved in Japan as an anti-cancer drug. Other qualities hinted at by research include antibiotic and immune enhancer.
Medical research on mushrooms appears to have begun in the late 1960′s in Japan. It gained attention in the West through the research by Dr. Ikekawa, who found that families growing mushrooms had lower cancer-rates than other people in their communities. Since those early days, medical research into mushrooms has grown exponentially and is still increasing. Medicinal mushrooms are continuing to make history.
Note: The information in this article is for informational purposes only. Mushrooms have not been aproved for medicinal use by the FDA. Always consult a licensed medical practitioner about the treatment of any medical condition.
