Victoria's Wisdom
CHAGA
POTENTIAL
ANTI-TUMOUR TREATMENT?
Inontus
obliques is a fungus that grows on birch trees in Northern Canada.
Known
in Russia by the popular name 'Chaga' or 'Tchaga', I. Obliques has been used in
folk medicine since the sixteenth century as a remedy against cancer and
diseases of the digestive system. For generations Chaga had been thought of as
mysterious and magical, but in recent years this perception has changed with
the scientific literature in Russia focusing on the medicinal properties. The
fungus and its preparations were sold as a liquid extract under the name
'Befungin' and was approved by the Russian Medical Research Council in 1955
following clinical investigation.
WHAT
IS CHAGA?
Chaga
is known as Inontus obliques - it was formerly called Polyporus obliques.
Common names include Birch Mushroom, Birch Canker, Chaga and Clinker.
Inontus
obliques is a flack parasitic fungus produced on the living trunks of mature
birch [Betula]. The black, deeply scarred and cracked appearance of the outer
surface of the protruding growth resembles burnt charcoal which suggested
'clinker' as one of its common names. This wood rotting fungus has long been
used as a folk medicine in several East European countries and Russia. The
portion of the fungus traditionally used is the inner brown layer growing
closest to the tree. The folk uses of Chaga addressed many complaints such as
gastritis, ulcers, TB of the bones, as well as cancer. IN the last several
years, medical research and laboratory tests of the efficacy of the fungus as
an anti-tumour agent have confirmed some of the early claims.
NORTH
AMERICAN NATIVE USE
The
Woodland Cree of Canada names this fungus either 'Pos kan' or 'W sakechak omik
h'. The latter name, W sakechak's scab for the conk of I. obliques is derived
from the following legend. "W sakechak threw a scab [which he had mistaken
for dried meat and tried to eat] against a tree where it has stayed to this day
to benefit mankind."
The
Cree used the soft orange part of the conk as tinder or touchwood for the
building of campfires. One fire starting method commonly used by the Cree was
the striking of steel against a piece of flint to make sparks. The sparks would
ignite a piece of dry pos kan [which catches easily and remains smoldering] and
then the pos kan is used to ignite thin pieces of birch bark and small dry
twigs in turn.
Other
uses of the fungus by the Cree were to place small pieces in the bowl of a pipe
to keep the tobacco burning, as the tobacco had a tendency to go out when
moist. When tea was scarce it was used as a substitute and was said to be sweet
in taste. Another interesting use was as a counter irritant for arthritis, a
matchstick shaped piece of the conk was placed on the skin over the painful
area and burned.
Chaga
is interesting botanically. The body is an irregular black mass us to 12 by 6
inches, black, deeply cracked throughout, hard and brittle. The flesh is orange
brown in colour. The fresh, sterile conks, which can be harvested or collected
throughout the year, are cut into slices and gently dried at room temperature,
or between 50 - 60 degrees Celsius, and stored in a dry place until required.
The sterile conks, inside three layers are the parts that are used. It has an
anti-tumour action, is a tonic, alternative, stomachic and anodyne.
Although
an early study of an aqueous extract of I. obliques reported anti-tumour
activity, the authors did not specify which components were responsible for the
activity. The fungus has been found to be rich in the related triterpenes,
lanosterol and inotodiol as well as betulin and some sterols. Tests of these
compounds, as to their anti-tumour properties, indicated that inotodiol was the
most active compound that was able to destroy 100% of Walker 256 Carcinosarcoma
cells and MCF-7 human adenocarcinoma mammary cells.
Further
testing of compounds isolated from I. obliques demonstrated that several others
also exhibited strong cytotoxicity towards carcinoma cells in vitro. Lanosterol
was found to be fully inactive against the Walker 256 cell line, but was able
to kill 90% of MCF-7 cell line at the highest cell concentration used in this
study. A triterpene fraction which consisted of a mixture of four compounds was
found to be 100% effective against the MCF-7 cell line. Contrary to earlier
published reports betulin was found inactive towards the above two cell lines.
The
dried shredded inner part of the conk is softened by soaking in cold, but
previously boiled water for 4 hours which is filtered and liquid portion saved
as well as the softened fungus. An infusion is prepared by pouring sterilized
boiling water, cooled to 50 degrees Celsius, over the fungus [use a weight
ratio of 1:5, fungus to water]. This is left to stand at room temperature for
48 hours. The mixture is then filtered and the water in which the fungus was
originally soaked is added to the filtrate. It is important never to over heat
the fungus and to treat it as you would yeast, never subjecting it to too much
heat or cold. The triterpenes, lanosterol and inotodiol give the extract its
anti-tumour activity.
The
infusion can be used for up to 4 days. Three glasses should be taken per 24
hour period, approximately 30 minutes before meals. It takes some 7 kg a month of
fungus for a course of treatment, lasting 4 - 7 months, with short breaks if
necessary.
The
fungus is most frequently encountered in the sterile condition on living trunks
of mature birch trees. The conks, acting like a wedge, burst through the bark
and appear as large gall-like structures, varying in size from 5 - 20 cm in
diameter, with a very irregular, cracked and deeply fissured surface. The
structure forces the bark apart, keeping the wound open and allowing the fungus
to enter the unaffected wood. The conks have a hard, woody to almost stony
texture. When removed from the tree the internal surface is rusty brown,
somewhat granular in appearance and is often mottled with whitish or cream
coloured veins. The sterile structures are formed of densely compacted and
entwined hyphae making this hyphal structure difficult to characterize.
The
fungus fruits on the dead standing or fallen trunk possibly as long as 6 years
after the tree has died. The inconspicuous and short-lived fruiting bodies form
under the bark extending for several meters over the wood. At intervals broad
columns of hyphae grow out horizontally for up to 2 cm, with pores being
produced on their underside. Seen from above the surface is golden brown with a
satiny sheen.
Various
therapeutic claims have been made. According to Reid [1976], Chaga relieves
pain and improves a patient's condition by reducing sickness and heartburn.
Taken in the early stages of the disease, it can halt the growth of tumours and
is said to be especially effective against those of the stomach and lungs.
The
fungus is apparently non-toxic and has no side effects. Some sources indicate
that while a patient is receiving treatment of the kind, intravenous
applications of glucose and penicillin-3 should be discontinued. It is also
recommended that the patient's diet should consist mainly of mild vegetables
with limited meats and fats; smoked products and strong spices should be
avoided.
Chaga
is also said to be beneficial in cases of chronic gastritis and has been used
for all stomach complaints including ulcers. It may also be effective for
cancer, TB of the bones, and glandular organs where operations are not possible
due t the network of blood vessels.
Recent
investigations of a closely related species I. radiatus have shown that
constituents extracted from this fungus also display significant anti-tumour
activity. It is said that the wood rotting fungus I. radiatus commonly occurs
in Finland on the trunks of birch and alder trees. The n-hexane fraction
extracted from the sporophores of the fungus collected from living trunks of
alder, yielded pure lupenone and ergosterol peroxide as well as a mixture of
other sterols. Anti-tumour activity of several of these compounds, as well as
the water extract and alcohol extract, were studied using standard techniques.
The
water extract of the fungus proved to be either inactive or only slightly
active against the two cell lines tested [Walker 256 and MCF-7] whereas the
constituents soluble in ethanol and n-hexane were moderately active killing up
to 50% of the cells after five days. From the results of other investigations,
some concluded that the activity of the n-hexane fraction could be attributed
to derivatives of ergosterol. Ergosterol peroxide was active against both cell lines,
not only inhibiting growth but also killing them 100%. At the time of writing,
the active constituents of the water and alcohol extracts were unidentified.
Courtesy
of the Canadian Journal of Herbalism, July, 1994
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