Overview
Overview
Overview
RESEARCH SUMMARY
INFECTION
- Decreased severity of infection
- Shortened recovery time
- Increased survival
In fact, one study found that mice pretreated with AHCC® before infection with K. pneumoniae had completely cleared the bacteria from their systems by day 6, whereas control mice had increased levels of the bacteria and became extremely sick.
CANCER
One landmark AHCC® trial enrolled 269 patients with liver cancer. Following surgery, about half of the patients took AHCC® and about half did not.
The results were dramatic: At the end of the ten-year study, only 34.5% of the AHCC® patients experienced a recurrence in their cancer, compared with 66.1% of the control group. Similarly, while 46.8% of the patients in the control group had died at the end of ten years, less than half that amount — 20.4% — of those in the AHCC® group had. Another study found that AHCC® not only prolonged survival of advanced liver cancer patients, it also improved various parameters of quality of life, including mental stability, general physical health status and the ability to have normal activities.
SIDE EFFECTS OF CHEMOTHERAPY
- Hair Loss: Doctors noticed that chemotherapy patients taking AHCC® did not lose their hair. Subsequently, an in vivo study found that mice treated with AHCC® were protected from chemically induced hair loss.
- Nausea: Clinical studies in Korea and Japan have indicated that AHCC® remarkably improves symptoms of nausea and vomiting in cancer patients. (Kenner, p. 18).
- Bone Marrow Suppression: Chemotherapy can inhibit bone marrow function, which is life-threatening because the body’s key immune soldiers — the white blood cells — originate in bone marrow. AHCC® has been shown to raise the white blood cell count of cancer patients by about 30%. (Kenner, p. 17)
- Liver Damage: One of the major drawbacks of chemotherapy is that it kills healthy cells in addition to cancer cells. An in vivo study found that while rats given chemotherapy experienced large increases in liver enzymes (indicative of liver damage), those given chemotherapy plus AHCC® had normal levels. (Kenner, p. 17).
LIVER AILMENTS
Animal studies confirm AHCC®’s liver-protective effect. Rats treated with AHCC® and then administered the liver-toxic chemical carbon tetrachloride were spared from its liver-damaging effect. Similarly, rats treated with AHCC® and then administered the lethal substance galactosamine had an improved survival rate compared to control rats. (Kenner, p. 19).
DIABETES
AHCC®’s blood-sugar lowering effect was also observed in animal research.
Diabetes was induced in rats through injection with the chemical streptozotocin (STZ). Among untreated (control) animals, blood glucose levels increased, insulin levels decreased, and insulin-secreting cells were damaged. Among AHCC®-treated rats, however, blood glucose levels decreased, insulin levels increased, and there was little damage to insulin-secreting cells.
CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE
Dr. M. Iwamoto of the En-Zan-Kai Medical Corporation reported that AHCC® has a beneficial influence on ventricular arrhythmias, a type of heart disorder in which the heart rhythm is disrupted. (Kenner, p. 21)
STRESS
A study in rats that had been stressed through immobilization found that AHCC® mediated the stress response, keeping levels of stress hormones, uric acid, and blood sugar normal.
Other in vivo studies have shown that as a potent antioxidant, AHCC® may also protect against disorders caused by oxidative stress (cellular stress caused by free radicals).
INFLAMMATION
One study found that AHCC® administration attenuated inflammation in rats with colitis (inflammation of the colon) on a level equal to that of the anti-inflammatory drug sulfasalazine. Another study observed that AHCC® protected rats from the damaging effects of peritonitis (inflammation of the peritoneum, the membrane that lines the abdominal cavity). (Kenner, p. 23)
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8. Buxiang S, et al. Preventive effects of AHCC® on carbon tetrachloride induced liver injury in mice. Natural Medicine. 1997;51(4):310-315.
9. Wakame K. Protective effects of AHCC® on the onset of diabetes induced by streptozotocin in the rat. Biomedical Research. 1999;20(3):145-152.
10. Department of Biochemistry, Dokkyo University School of Medicine. AHCC® on immobilization stress in the rat: beneficial effects of AHCC®. Dokkyo Journal of Medical Sciences. 2001;28(1):559-565.
11. She-Fang Y, et al. Amelioration by AHCC® of endocrine disturbances induced by oxidative stress in the rat. Endocr Regul. 2004 Mar;38(1):7-13.
12. She-Fang Y, et al. Suppressive effects of AHCC® on the increased activity of hepatic and renal ornithine decarboxylase induced by oxidative stress. Life Sci. 2003 Dec 19;74(5):593-602.
13. Wang S. Preventive effects of AHCC® on oxidative stress induced by ferric nitrilotriacetate in the rat. Dokkyo Journal of Medical Sciences. 2001;28(2-3):745-752.
14. Daddaoua A, et al. AHCC® acts as a prebiotic and is anti-inflammatory in rats with hapten-induced colitis. J Nutr. 2007 May;137(5):1222-8.