Chapter 1 Mystery and Culture of Lingzhi 1
Lingzhi in myths 2
Lingzhi in ancient poems 3
"Catholicon"according to Taoism 4
Auspicious symbol for Chinese 6
Guo Mo-Ruo's poem on Lingzhi 8
Chapter 2 Lingzhi as Described in Shennong Materia Medica 10
Shennong Materia Medica on Lingzhi 11
Scientific understanding on Lingzhi by scholars in early years 13
Criticism on misinformation regarding Lingzhi in the old time 14
Current understanding of the six kinds of Lingzhi 16
Interpretation of Shennong Materia Medica using the traditional Chinese and Western medicine principles 18
Chapter 3 Understanding Lingzhi 20
Lingzhi fruiting body—a Chinese medicine 21
Life cycle of Lingzhi 22
Morphological characteristics of hyphae,fruiting body and spores 24
Cultivation of Lingzhi for its fruiting bodies 26
Submerged fermentation for Lingzhi mycelia 29
Lingzhi's"genealogy"revealed by DNA fingerprinting 29
Organic cultivation of Lingzhi 30
Lingzhi's active components and pharmacological effects 31
Chapter 4 Prevention and Treatment of Chronic Bronchitis with Lingzhi 34
Chronic bronchitis 35
Therapeutic efficacy of Lingzhi on chronic bronchitis 35
Immunoregulating nature of Lingzhi 38
Chapter 5 Prevention and Treatment of Hyperlipidemia with Lingzhi 41
Hyperlipidemia 42
Therapeutic efficacy of Lingzhi on hyperlipidemia 43
How does Lingzhi regulate blood lipid? 43
Chapter 6 Anti-Hypertensive Effects of Lingzhi 46
Hypertension 47
Clinical reports on Lingzhi's efficacy for hypertension treatment 47
Why can Lingzhi effectively treat hypertension? 52
Chapter 7 Preventive and Therapeutic Effect of Lingzhi on Diabetes Mellitus 53
Diabetes mellitus 54
Clinical reports on Lingzhi for adjuvant treatment on diabetes mellitus 55
Mechanism of adjuvant therapeutic effect of Lingzhi on diabetes mellitus 57
Chapter 8 Prevention and Treatment with Lingzhi for Neurasthenia 62
Neurasthenia 63
Rejuvenation of nerve-endocrine-immune system with Linzhi 63
Clinical reports on neurasthenia treatment with Lingzhi 64
Clinical reports on memory improvement by Lingzhi 73
Chapter 9 Prevention and Treatment of Hepatitis with Lingzhi 75
Therapeutic efficacy of Lingzhi on hepatitis 76
Clinical reports on Lingzhi's efficacy for hepatitis treatment 77
Mechanism of Lingzhi's liver-protective effect 80
Chapter 10 Adjuvant Therapy for Cancers with Lingzhi 84
Lingzhi as an adjuvant therapy for cancers 85
Clinical reports on Lingzhi's adjuvant treatments for cancers 85
Mechanism of anti-tumor activity of Lingzhi in adjuvant therapy 96
TCM therapeutical theory of"strengthening health to ward off invading pathogens"and Lingzhi's adjuvant therapy for tumors 98
Chapter 11 Care for Health of the Sub-Healthy,Middle-Aged and Elderly 102
TCM emphasizes health and well-being 103
"Sub-health"and homeostasis regulation disorder 103
Health effect of Lingzhi on sub-healthy populations 106
Anti-aging effect of Lingzhi 106
Reports on the health effects of Lingzhi 110
Chapter 12 Lingzhi Minimizes Poisoning Effect of Poisonous Mushrooms 120
Mushroom poisoning 121
Clinical reports on Lingzhi for Amanita mushroom poisoning 122
Clinical reports on Lingzhi for Russula subnigricans poisoning 124
Mechanism of therapeutic efficacy of Lingzhi on mushroom poisoning 125
Chapter 13 Lingzhi for Treatment of Other Diseases 127
For nephrotic syndrome 128
For multiple sclerosis and myotonia atrophica 132
For scleroderma 132
For alopecia areata 134
For chloasma 135
For the acquired immune deficiency syndrome(AIDS) 137
Chapter 14 Recommendations in Choosing and Using Lingzhi Products 139
Lingzhi products 140
Quality of Lingzhi products 141
Misconception on quality of wild Lingzhi 142
Ways to distinguish good from bad Lingzhi products 143
Polysaccharide content in Lingzhi products 145
Side effects or"vertigo-like therapeutic"? 146
Misdiagnosis of Lingzhi spores as parasite eggs 147
Chapter 15 Processing Technology for Lingzhi Products 149
Preparation of Lingzhi fluidum extractum 150
Cultivation of Lingzhi for its fruiting bodies 153
Making of Lingzhi capsule products 153
Making of Lingzhi granular products 153
Making of Lingzhi syrup products 154
Making of Lingzhi tincture products 154
Making of Lingzhi vinum 155
Manufacturing of Lingzhi injection ampoules 155
Processing technologies associated with Lingzhi spore products 157
Appendix 159