PhytoCort

This supplement may provide support for*:

• Healthy Breathing
• Asthma
• COPD

Product details:

Proprietary blend: Reishi extract, Shrubby Sophora, Licorice, Morinda
Each bottle contains: 120 hypoallergenic capsules (800 mg)
Suggested Usage: As a dietary supplement, take 1-3 capsules each time, two to three times a day, or as suggested by a healthcare provider. Sensitive individuals may want to take with food.

Additional Information:

With the FDA restriction on herbal products containing ephedra (Ma Huang), natural medicine doctors scrambled to find another effective herbal supplement that would support people with asthma. PhytoCort does not contain Ma Huang (ephedra), which can pose risks to cardiovascular and nervous functions in very large doses. This blend of four Chinese herbs is poised to fill the void and may become an effective and safe supplement to support people with chronic asthma and an alternative option for all-too-common prednisone.

In a 2005 landmark study [1] researchers from Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York, the Weifang Asthma Hospital and the Weifang School of Medicine in China, demonstrated the efficacy of an oral combination of three Chinese herbs in alleviating asthma symptoms, without the severe side effects normally associated with corticosteroid and prednisone therapy.

The researchers conducted a double-blind placebo-controlled study, the researchers investigated the effects of a combination of three Chinese herbal extracts, which are main ingredients of PhytoCort: Ganoderma lucidum, Sophora flavensis and Glycyrrhiza uralensis (these herbs are also known as Reishi, Shrubby Sophora and Chinese Licorice).

Ninety-two non-smoking patients with symptoms of moderate to severe asthma were recruited to participate in the study. The herbal combination was compared against prednisone in a four-week measure of asthmatic symptom relief. The results showed that the combined herbal extracts significantly reduced the participants symptom scores, increased lung function, and reduced the patients'use of an emergency inhaler. There was also a marked reduction in the number of the white blood cells that often accompany allergic responses and serum antibody IgE levels (A high level of antibody IgE is believed to cause hypersensitivity in asthma patients).

While both groups showed a significant improvement in lung function, the effects of prednisone were slightly greater. In both groups, there was a significant reduction in symptom scores and a reduced need for beta-2 bronchodilator therapy. But what's even more striking is that the herbal extracts actually had an immune-boosting effect on the patients taking it. Subjects in the prednisone group showed a significant reduction in serum cortisol. In contrast, patients in the herbal group showed increased cortisol. This means that the adrenal function of the herbal treatment group appeared to be improved, whereas the adrenal function of the prednisone group appeared to be further reduced.

References:
[1] Wen MC, Wei CH, Hu ZQ, Srivastava K, Ko J, Xi ST, Mu DZ, Du JB, Li GH, Wallenstein S, Sampson H, Kattan M, Li XM. Efficacy and tolerability of anti-asthma herbal medicine intervention in adult patients with moderatesevere allergic asthma. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2005 Sep;116(3):517-24.
[2] Hoang BX, Levine SA, Shaw DG, Pham P. Broncho-pulmonary hyper-excitability model of asthma pathogenesis: new approach in asthma treatment using excitatory modulator. Med Hypothesis. 2006 Jun 22.