Agarikon Conk As a Potential Smallpox Remedy - NPR Interview with Paul Stamets
In an interview on National Public Radio, world-renown medicinal mushroom expert Paul Stamets recounts his discovery of the healing properties of agarikon, a mushroom growing on 500-year-old trees in the old growth rainforests of the northwestern United States.
Knowing that mushrooms are susceptible to many of the same microbes as humans, how could it be, he asked himself, that this perennial wood conk managed to stay healthy for 50 years in the dripping wet rain forest without rotting? It must have a powerful immune system, he concluded, with potentially powerful medicinal compounds that could benefit humans.
Stamets describes the agarikon conk as looking like a bee hive when viewed from the ground. Remember, they grow on the trunks of ancient tree giants, sometimes high up. (Use the agarikon-link on this page to view a picture of Paul Stamets holding an agarikon mushroom.) Please be aware that this is a threatened species and should be left alone in most cases. Just get out your digital camera if you are lucky enough to find a specimen. (Otherwise, no one may believe you.)
Using a proprietary extraction method on his organically cultivated agarikon, Stamets created an agarikon medicinal. He sent a sample of it to the Defense Department for testing within the BIO Shield Program, at a top security lab facility in Ft. Dietrich, Maryland. The BIO Shield Program is dedicated to finding remedies for use against bioterrorism threats and potential biological warfare agents, such as anthrax or smallpox.
Reportedly, tens of thousands of natural as well as manmade remedies are tested through the BIO Shield Program. According to drug discovery supervisor John Seacrest, Paul Stamets agarikon extract scored one of the rare hits against viruses related to smallpox. In other words, it effectively inhibited smallpox related viruses under lab conditions.
Following this discovery, Paul Stamets now has a patent pending on a mushroom-derived anti-viral drug. One of his financial backers, Boston-based investor John Norris, bases his support in part on the fact that, as he says, not everyone is able or willing to be vaccinated against diseases such as smallpox.
As a former second at the FDA, John Norris should know enough about the field of medicine. And obviously, his belief in Paul Stamets agarikon extract is strong enough to put his money where his mouth is. His goal is that they may someday sell this agarikon extract for the defense stock-piles of NATO armies, with doses numbering in the hundreds of millions.
That may still be a few years into the future, though. Paul Stamets new mushroom related anti-viral medicine first has to stand up to exhaustive testing, and then eventually be approved for release by the FDA.
Note: The above article is intended for informational purposes only. Agarikon has not been approved by the FDA for use as a medicinal. Never use any herbal or mushroom-product for medicinal purposes unless advice to do so by a licensed medical practitioner.
Reference: NPR Morning Edition, Smallpox Defense May Be Found in Mushrooms by Tom Banse, August 4, 2005. - 17274
Knowing that mushrooms are susceptible to many of the same microbes as humans, how could it be, he asked himself, that this perennial wood conk managed to stay healthy for 50 years in the dripping wet rain forest without rotting? It must have a powerful immune system, he concluded, with potentially powerful medicinal compounds that could benefit humans.
Stamets describes the agarikon conk as looking like a bee hive when viewed from the ground. Remember, they grow on the trunks of ancient tree giants, sometimes high up. (Use the agarikon-link on this page to view a picture of Paul Stamets holding an agarikon mushroom.) Please be aware that this is a threatened species and should be left alone in most cases. Just get out your digital camera if you are lucky enough to find a specimen. (Otherwise, no one may believe you.)
Using a proprietary extraction method on his organically cultivated agarikon, Stamets created an agarikon medicinal. He sent a sample of it to the Defense Department for testing within the BIO Shield Program, at a top security lab facility in Ft. Dietrich, Maryland. The BIO Shield Program is dedicated to finding remedies for use against bioterrorism threats and potential biological warfare agents, such as anthrax or smallpox.
Reportedly, tens of thousands of natural as well as manmade remedies are tested through the BIO Shield Program. According to drug discovery supervisor John Seacrest, Paul Stamets agarikon extract scored one of the rare hits against viruses related to smallpox. In other words, it effectively inhibited smallpox related viruses under lab conditions.
Following this discovery, Paul Stamets now has a patent pending on a mushroom-derived anti-viral drug. One of his financial backers, Boston-based investor John Norris, bases his support in part on the fact that, as he says, not everyone is able or willing to be vaccinated against diseases such as smallpox.
As a former second at the FDA, John Norris should know enough about the field of medicine. And obviously, his belief in Paul Stamets agarikon extract is strong enough to put his money where his mouth is. His goal is that they may someday sell this agarikon extract for the defense stock-piles of NATO armies, with doses numbering in the hundreds of millions.
That may still be a few years into the future, though. Paul Stamets new mushroom related anti-viral medicine first has to stand up to exhaustive testing, and then eventually be approved for release by the FDA.
Note: The above article is intended for informational purposes only. Agarikon has not been approved by the FDA for use as a medicinal. Never use any herbal or mushroom-product for medicinal purposes unless advice to do so by a licensed medical practitioner.
Reference: NPR Morning Edition, Smallpox Defense May Be Found in Mushrooms by Tom Banse, August 4, 2005. - 17274
About the Author:
About the author: Dr. Rafael has worked with natural health products since 1996, specializing in mycomedicinals. Click Agarikon Mushrooms for picture of agarikon, mushroom products, free mushroom articles, or to request a unique copy of any mushroom article for your own web-site or magazine / ezine. Click Fomitopsis officinalis for scientific references about agarikon.
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