2023-05-31 16:34:24
Where does this news come from?
Peter van Ineveld is not a doctor, but calls himself a ‘naturopathic therapist’.
- He specializes in using medicinal mushrooms for various medical conditions.
- He is also the author of the book medicinal mushrooms.
- Van Ineveld does not reject regular medicine, but believes that medicinal mushrooms can perfectly complement the current therapies.
Van Ineveld’s statement about mushrooms is also the title above the interview in De Morgen: ‘More and more oncologists are prescribing mycotherapy’.
- Mycotherapie is the use of mushrooms for medical purposes.
- Van Ineveld refers to Krestin (misspelled in De Morgen as Kerstin).
- That is a component of fairy benches that you find on stumps and branches of trees.
- Elven benches grow in shingles and have sturdy, fan-shaped hats.
- In the same article in De Morgen, Johan Baars, microbiologist at Wageningen University and mushroom expert, refers to a study of polysaccharides in elfenbankjeswho can sometimes ‘do something’ with cancer.
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How should you interpret this news?
Cancer therapies, such as chemotherapy and radiotherapy, can serious side effects have that sometimes lead to the dose reduction or even the discontinuation of treatment.
- These changes do not improve the outlook for people with cancer.
- Complementary therapies those that mitigate side effects are often necessary. They can extend lives because people tolerate the therapy better.
- According to Peter van Ineveld medicinal mushrooms take on that additional role.
- He also refers to the supplement Krestin, extracted from fairy benches.
- Krestin is not a cure, but one food supplement.
To Krestin is indeed quite a lot research done, but with variable results.
- An independent 2022 review study examined the use of Krestin as an adjunctive treatment in colorectal cancer patients receiving chemotherapy or radiotherapy.
- The study found one very limited beneficial effect of Krestin on the survival of 1,569 patients across 7 studies.
- Persons with colon cancer those given the elfin extract had a slightly higher chance (1.08 times greater) of still being alive 5 years later compared to individuals who did not receive that supplement (2).
For other medicinal mushrooms used as an adjunct to cancer therapies, an even greater one applies insecurity (3).
- There are some limited studies indicating a possible limited beneficial effect on unwanted side effects of cancer therapies, but insufficient studies have been done in individuals with cancer itself.
That more and more oncologists would prescribe medicinal mushrooms is an impossible statement. The statement is rather questionable, since you cannot prescribe these drugs and they are rarely found in regular pharmacies.
Conclusion
Whether certain mushrooms have medicinal properties that eliminate the annoying side effects of cancer therapies, such as chemotherapy and radiation, has not been sufficiently proven. There may be a very modest beneficial effect of an extract of elf benches as an adjunct to colon cancer therapies, but that evidence is also shaky. It is doubtful that more and more oncologists would prescribe these mushrooms. In addition, they are not available on prescription.
References
- (2) Pilkington K, Wieland LS, Teng L, Jin XY, Storey D, Liu JP. Coriolus (Trametes) versicolor mushroom to reduce adverse effects from chemotherapy or radiotherapy in people with colorectal cancer. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2022, Issue 11. Art. No.: CD012053. DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD012053.pub2.
- (3) Park HJ. Current Uses of Mushrooms in Cancer Treatment and Their Anticancer Mechanisms. Int J Mol Sci. 2022 Sep 10;23(18):10502. doi: 10.3390/ijms231810502.
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