A famous TCM arthritis drug and expensive mushroom lingzhi have analgesic effects for rheumatoid arthritis, but the long-claimed anti-inflammatory and immunity boosting functions are yet to be substantiated, a new study says.
The study was done at the Prince of Wales Hospital of the Chinese University of Hong Kong. It was a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled pilot trial.
The popular traditional Chinese medicine combo used in this study were Ganoderma lucidum (lingzhi) and San Miao San ( The Three Wonders Powder).
Lingzhi is the name for one form of the mushroom Ganoderma lucidum, and its close relative Ganoderma tsugae, which grows in the northern Eastern Hemlock forests. These two species of bracket fungus have a worldwide distribution in both tropical and temperate geographical regions, including North and South America, Africa, Europe, and Asia, growing as a parasite or saprotroph on a wide variety of trees.
Ganoderma lucidum enjoys special veneration in Asia, where it has been used in traditional Chinese medicine as a herbal medicine for more than 4,000 years, making it one of the oldest mushrooms known to have been used in medicine.
According to The Chinese Herbal Materia Medica ,lingzhi may be classified into six categories according to their shapes and colors, each of which is believed to nourish a different part of the body.
