Can a Mushroom Stop Alzheimer’s Disease or Dementia Progression?
3 things you should know about Lion’s Mane mushrooms
Nature is amazing, there is so much we do not know or understand. Mushrooms are often stigmatized, and people generally only know champignons and psychedelic mushrooms though there is an entire universe out there.
DISCLAIMER: this is not a story about alternative medicine, or a medical advise. We talk about nutritional aspects and some ONGOING research not tested on large samples.
A popular mushroom among mycologists (scientists studying mushrooms) but not so much to the general public is the Hieracium erinaceus. This fluffy fungus has several nootropic benefits which we start to understand now. In this story, I will share research and anecdotes about it. This is the agenda: a short intro, a summary of traditional and folklore, and a summary of western research.
- What is a lion’s mane mushroom and Alzheimer’s
- Traditional Meaning in East Asia
- Western Research on lion’s mane
1. What is a Lion’s mane mushroom and Alzheimer’s
Hericium erinaceus is an edible mushroom belonging to the tooth fungus group. It can be generally found on dying log trees or hardwoods.
Commonly goes with different names. In English Lion’s mane, in German Igelbart, in Chinese (Pin Yin Name) Hou Tou Gu, and Japanese Yamabushi-take. Internationally, the most common names are Lion’s mane and Yamabushi-take.
It is endogenous of North America, Europe, and Asia. It grows like a little head (another name is monkey’s head) with dangling spines that look like hair. It is white in color, and very delicious. It grows in late summer and fall, though it is very easy to harvest it in green-house conditions at home the entire year.
Alzheimer’s disease, also referred to simply as Alzheimer’s, is a chronic neurodegenerative disease that usually starts slowly and gradually worsens over time. It is the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia [1]. Some studies have introduced potential benefits of psilocybin for treatment of depression and post-traumatic-disorders [2], though even less it is known of other mushrooms which can potentially halt Alzheimer’s or dementia progression.
2. Traditional Meaning in East Asia
Lion’s mane mushroom has been known in Traditional Chinese Medicine (especially in East China) for centuries and used to treat mild depression, anxiety, and poor concentration associated with stress or menopausal symptoms. There is evidence of its use back to the Qing dynasty (1636–1912), though the artificial cultivation of Lion’s Mane is first reported in China in 1988 [3].
While the Chinese name Hou Tou Gu literally means monkey’s head (monkey=猴 [Hóu], head=头[tóu]), the Japanese name has a more fascinating story. The name is the composition of two separate words: Yamabushi and Take. Take means simply mushroom, while Yamabushi (山伏) is “one who prostrates himself on the mountain”, or the “hermit of the hidden mountain”. In practice, the Yamabushi are Japanese mountain ascetic hermits. They follow the Shugendō doctrine, which is an integration of unique aspects of esoteric Buddhism. You can imagine them as the equivalent in Japan of Merlin from King Arthur and the knights of the Round Table. Being a Yamabushi is like having a journey of self-development and self-discovery in mountains. At the beginning of the 19th century, when Japan opened itself to the west, the Yamabushi practices were forbidden. Only the monks of Yamagata prefecture in northern Japan maintained the religion by practicing it in secret. Today, this religion is not forbidden anymore and there are plenty of organized retreats for those who are interested. Fritz Schumann realized a touching tribute which you can watch below. Some anecdotes say that Yamabushi were the first noticing Lion’s mane, and others that the rope of a Yamabushi monk resembles the mushroom’s shape, hence its name. All this blends the self-development asceticism of the monks and benefits the mental health of the mushroom.
3. Western Research on Lion’s mane
Lion’s mane fungi contain several bioactive metabolites, including polysaccharides, terpenoids, sterols, and more. Several studies suggest that they offer neuroprotection, anti-inflammatory actions, and stimulate nerve growth factor (NGF) synthesis, along with many other beneficial properties.
Preclinical studies (in vitro and animal) show that lion’s mane can slow the progression of Alzheimer’s and Dementia. Those animal studies show that lion’s mane increases nerve growth factor levels and may enhance short term memory, hence contrasting Alzheimer [4].
2 groups of ICR mice were used, both with injected Amyloid β-Protein Fragment 25–35 inducing Alzheimer’s like plaques. A group of mice was on a lions’ mane diet for 23 days and the other group on nomral diet. On day 21 of the experiment, mice were subjected to the Y-Maze experiment for the first time, which reflects spatial memory capacity. On days 21–23, the same mice had memory further assessed using the Novel Object Recognition Test. This test determines how well the animals can remember if an object is familiar or novel based on the time that the animal interacts with the object. Typically, mice spend more time with unfamiliar objects because of the novelty effect, so do mice with memory deficits as they forgot the object. The mice that received the lion’s mane diet had significantly higher discrimination ratio than the mice on normal diet [4].
A similar study used APPswe/PS1dE9 mice models — mice models predisposed to develop plaques like Alzheimer naturally- showing lion’s mane supplements decreasing production of amyloid-beta (AB) protein, which is implicated in the pathophysiology of plaque creation in the brain of Alzheimer patients. The rationale is given by an indirect action of the NGF synthesis [5].
In a clinical trial with humans, more specifically mild cognitive impaired (MCI) subjects, lion’s mane showed to improve cognitive functions. In a small small double-blind, placebo controlled study, old Japanese MCI patients were involved. They took 250 mg lion’s mane three times daily for a month, showing later on improvements in specific tasks related to memory, as spatial short-term and visual recognition memory [6].
In addition to research on impaired mice, it has been investigated whether lion’s mane mushroom affects healthy, normal mice. A study showed, promising results in explorative tasks (like those aforementioned) performed by a group of mice on lion’s mane diet, compared to other wild-type mice on normal diet. Therefore, lion’s mane extract may also help regenerate brain cells and improve the functioning of the CA3 region of the hippocampus, which a relevant region of the brain responsible for processing memories and emotional responses [7–8]. A recent article has reviewed these and other studies involving lion’s mane and other mushrooms in relationship to dementia and Alzheimer’s disease [9].
Describing my personal use, I can share anecdotically that using 2 spoons of lions mane extract and coffee. I had the impression of prolonged alertness given by the caffeine, as if lion’s mane extract prolongs the caffeine effect. I have not seen particular impact taking the mushroom extract without coffee. Instead, they are delicious if slightly fried or sauté, though it seems the nootropic agents could be destroyed by high temperature.
The mentioned studies are mostly on mice and a small cohort of MCI humans, and conclusions were mostly done based on simple explorative tasks. They are promising, though we should NOT take them as conclusive that can few grams of lion’s mane can prevent from Alzheimers or dementia. Nevertheless, they show encouraging results which should foster further study to validate if it can be an effective treatment for real. It is also possible that is a just a supplement similar to Ginkgo biloba or choline, though it will not hurt as it is just food.
References
[1] Alzheimer’s Association. “2016 Alzheimer’s disease facts and figures.” Alzheimer’s & Dementia 12.4 (2016): 459–509.
[2] Nutt, David, David Erritzoe, and Robin Carhart-Harris. “Psychedelic Psychiatry’s Brave New World.” Cell 181.1 (2020): 24–28.
[3] Jiang, Shengjuan, Songhua Wang, Yujun Sun, and Qiang Zhang. “Medicinal Properties of Hericium Erinaceus and Its Potential to Formulate Novel Mushroom-based Pharmaceuticals.” Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology 98, no. 18 (2014): p. 7662. doi:10.1007/s00253–014–5955–5.
[4] Mori, K., Obara, Y., Moriya, T., Inatomi, S., & Nakahata, N. (2011). Effects of Hericium erinaceus on amyloid beta(25–35) peptide-induced learning and memory deficits in mice. Biomed Res, 32(1), 67–72.
[5] Tsai-Teng, Tzeng et al. “Erinacine A-Enriched Hericium Erinaceus Mycelium Ameliorates Alzheimer’s Disease-Related Pathologies in APPswe/PS1dE9 Transgenic Mice.” Journal of Biomedical Science 23 (2016): 49. PMC. Web. 28 Apr. 2017.
[6] Mori, K., Inatomi, S., Ouchi, K., Azumi, Y. and Tuchida, T. (2009), Improving effects of the mushroom Yamabushitake (Hericium erinaceus) on mild cognitive impairment: a double-blind placebo-controlled clinical trial. Phytother. Res., 23: 367–372. doi: 10.1002/ptr.2634
[7] Brandalise, F., Cesaroni, V., Gregori, A., Repetti, M., Romano, C., Orrù, G., & Rossi, P. (2017). Dietary supplementation of Hericium erinaceus increases mossy fiber-CA3 hippocampal neurotransmission and recognition memory in wild-type mice. Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine, 2017.
[8] Ryu, S., Kim, H. G., Kim, J. Y., Kim, S. Y., & Cho, K. O. (2018). Hericium erinaceus extract reduces anxiety and depressive behaviors by promoting hippocampal neurogenesis in the adult mouse brain. Journal of Medicinal Food, 21(2), 174–180.
[9] Nkodo, A. (2019). A Systematic Review of in-vivo Studies on Dietary Mushroom Supplementation for Cognitive Impairment (P14–021–19). Current developments in nutrition, 3(Supplement_1), nzz052-P14.
