Chinese Mushroom Offers Hope for Dogs with Hemangiosarcoma

[Tobi]

The Coriolus Versicolor mushroom, commonly used in Chinese medicine, has been shown to have remarkable effects on dogs who suffer from Hemangiosarcoma, a cancer of the endothelial cells in blood vessels, and dramatically extends survival times.
With a good deal more success than traditional chemotherapy, and with no ill-effects!

Studies conducted by the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine, have published their findings in an open-access article in the journal Evidence Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine :

https://penntoday.upenn.edu/news/compoun...tudy-finds

There are contact details at the end of the article. Even though this publication is dated Autumn 2012, it does not as far as I can tell negate the findings, as I am sure the compounds work as well seven years later as they did then!
What intrigues me is why we have not heard more of this since....

[Catherine]

I think their results are incredible. I wonder why we haven't heard more about it. It is not a cure, but it does seem to help prolong life after diagnosis.

I hope the silence on the subject is because they are doing extensive tests and working out treatment protocols.
More likely they couldn't get grant money to do more because it is a natural medicine and not a chemical compound.
I hate to be suspicious, but western medicine favours drastic treatments that are very expensive.

It would be sad if this treatment was lost when it could benefit so many.

[Tobi]

(04-23-2019, 01:06 PM)Catherine Wrote: More likely they couldn't get grant money to do more because it is a natural medicine and not a chemical compound.
I hate to be suspicious, but western medicine favours drastic treatments that are very expensive.

It would be sad if this treatment was lost when it could benefit so many.

Yes Western medicine is greatly based on profit, sadly. It is a multi-billion dollar industry.

However....the clue is there! And a qualified herbalist, or Chinese medicine practitioner would know exactly what to use.

Now the big question would be: would the whole mushroom as used in traditional herbal medicine (rather than the active principles extracted from it) -be toxic or harmless to dogs?
Mushrooms, generally are not good for dogs.
That does not mean those active principles would necessarily be harmful to them, but maybe some other part of the whole mushroom.
I think it would take the skill of a herbal veterinary practitioner to know; and in what amounts and dosages.

But hemangiosarcoma (The "Silent Killer") takes so many lives, quickly and with hardly any warning. So extending survival times, to many months, or even a year or more, is a great advance. Not a 100% cure but very good indeed.

I have been following the studies into hemangiosarcoma in dogs. So far, there has not appeared to be much advance in combating this disease. So this is very interesting!

But the knowledge is there and can be utilised, even if due care is required.

[Catherine]

Quote:But hemangiosarcoma (The "Silent Killer") takes so many lives, quickly and with hardly any warning. So extending survival times, to many months, or even a year or more, is a great advance. Not a 100% cure but very good indeed.

You would think anything that would help with such a serious disease would be front page news. If it kills so quickly then anything that extends life is a big breakthrough. It would give families time to say good bye and be ready for their loss.
If the mushroom slows the disease down, maybe it is the clue to actually curing it.

Of course big drug companies would not like anything like this. They make too much money from chemotherapy drugs.
Some big company might have bought up the treatment so that it will never be available to the public.

Something must have happened. The treatment showed so much promise.

[Tobi]

And.....Chemotherapy is generally useless for treating this disease. It does not extend survival times.

[Catherine]

Quote:And.....Chemotherapy is generally useless for treating this disease. It does not extend survival times.

I can believe it. Chemotherapy doesn't work in all forms of cancer. 
We have to seek alternative treatments. I wonder if you could find the researchers and see what they are doing now. 
I hope they didn't give up a promising line of research. Even extending a life is worth it. 

If we are ever going to find cancer treatments that work we need to look in a number of directions. Checking out alternative and natural treatments would be a good direction to go.