AHCC and Seniors
People more advanced in age seem to be more prone to infectious disorders like the flu, the cold, pneumonia, cancer and other serious diseases.
One study revealed the ability of AHCC to enhance the activity of T cells in adults over 50 years of age. Dr. Zhinan Yin – specialist at the Medical School of Yale and his colleagues evaluated the AHCC therapy response in a group of 30 healthy adults. For each patient, the cytokine count was investigated, according to cells CD4+ and CD8+ values – before taking AHCC, after 30 days follow-up on the AHCC treatment, then 60 days follow-up, and 30 days after discontinuing AHCC (the CD4/DC8 ratio values indicate the virtual potency of the Immune System).
The study showed a major and steady increase in the gamma- interferon and alpha necrosis factor values (two essential versions of cytokine cells as part of the body’s natural defence against cancer-generating cells), even only after four weeks of supplementation with AHCC. These values showed a steady rising throughout the treatment. Thirty days after ending the AHCC treatment, the CD+ cytokine production decreased.
The AHCC acted differently on the CD8+ cells. That is, although AHCC did not relevantly stimulate the cytokine production 30 and then 60 days after AHCC treatment initiation – a substantial increase in the production of both types of cytokines was nevertheless reported during the 30 days period after the AHCC treatment was stopped. This proves that AHCC works both, during and after treatment. The studie whtich was made by Yin medical specialist, was also the first study that showed that AHCC can be beneficial when the immune system is “used” and it could help in preventing specific diseases in older persones.
The second study to be mentioned included 21 healthy adults around 60 years of age. They have been selected non-specifically, and organized in two groups. Every participant was daily given either a placebo “medication”, or a dose of 3 grams of AHCC for a duration of four weeks. According to the blood test results, taken before and after the treatment, the subjects given AHCC showed significantly higher values of dendritic cells (DC), and an enhanced function in DC1 cells, as compared to their own parameter values before the treatment, and relative also to the same parameter in the control group.
As pointed out by the coordinator of this study, Naoyoshi Terakawa, MD, (Medical University in Kansa, Japan), these results are significantly important, because the DC cells are “an essential component of the Immune System by maintaining its state of balance”, he concluded.