[#2004-05] The Anti-Dementia Effect of Lion’s Mane Mushroom(Hericium erinaceum) and Its Clinical Application, Hirokazu Kawagishi

Introduction

Medicinal Mushrooms have become a hot item in the mass media in the last few years but the information being disseminated about them is not always scientifically accurate. Most of the studies on the efficacy of medicinal mushrooms that are available to the public are based on animal studies (usually in mice) or cultured cells. In these cases, the bioactivity of the mushroom extracts cannot always be correlated to their activity when ingested by humans – either orally or by injection.

Our research on components of Lion’s Mane mushroom (Hericium erinaceum) and their biological activities in cell culture is a case where positive anti‑dementia results in the laboratory have been confirmed by analogous results in human use. In this article, we will introduce both the results from the laboratory and their clinical application.