Folk medicine refers to healing practices and ideas of body physiology and health preservation widely known to much of the population in a culture, transmitted informally as general knowledge, and practiced or applied by anyone in the culture ^[1]. All cultures and societies have knowledge best described as folk medicine. Folk medicine often coexists with formalized, education-based, and institutionalized systems of healing such as Western medicine or systems of traditional medicine like Ayurvedic and Chinese medicine, but is distinguishable from formalized or institutionalized healing systems. Use of folk medicine knowledge is not restricted within the society to those who have served an apprenticeship, undergone some sort of training or testing, or have achieved a specific social status. Theories and practices of folk medicine influence, and are influenced by, the formalized medicine systems of the same culture. From a folkloristic point of view, folk medicine is characterized by a reliance on narrative patterns and folk statistics ("counting the hits and ingnoring the failures") rather than rigorous empiricism. ^[2]

[edit] Medicinal mushrooms

The Ancient Egyptians considered mushrooms a special food item for royalty.^[3] For hundreds of years in China, Japan, and other Asian countries, certain mushrooms were thought to have medicinal acitivity.^[4] For centuries, Chaga mushrooms have been used in Russia for medicinal purposes.[1] The use of medicinal mushrooms in traditional medicine, is best documented in the East. Medicinal mushrooms are now the subject of study for many ethnobotanists and medical researchers. The ability of some mushrooms to inhibit tumor growth and enhance aspects of the immune system has been a subject of research for approximately 50 years.^[5] In the span of this time, preclinical studies have shown 200 species of mushrooms that demonstrated the ability to markedly inhibit the growth of different kinds of tumors,^[6] International mushroom research continues today, with a focus on mushroom's that may have hypoglycemic activity, anti-cancer activity, anti-pathogenic activity, and immune system enhancing activity.

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1. ^ Acharya, Deepak and Shrivastava Anshu (2008): Indigenous Herbal Medicines: Tribal Formulations and Traditional Herbal Practices, Aavishkar Publishers Distributor, Jaipur- India. ISBN 9788179102527. pp 440.
2. ^ Davis, Adam Brooke. "A Few Words About Folk Medicine/"
3. ^ "Mushrooms". Fruit & vegetable of the month. U.S. Centers for Disease Control. http://www.fruitsandveggiesmatter.gov/month/mushroom.html. Retrieved 2009-10-13. 
4. ^ Zhou; Gong, Z.; Su, Y.; Lin, J.; Tang, K. (2009). "Cordyceps fungi: natural products, pharmacological functions and developmental products". The Journal of pharmacy and pharmacology 61 (3): 279–291. doi:10.1211/jpp/61.03.0002. PMID 19222900.  edit
5. ^ Borchers AT, Krishnamurthy A, Keen CL, Meyers FJ, Gershwin ME (Mar 2008), "The immunobiology of mushrooms" (Free full text), Exp Biol Med 233 (3): 259–76, doi:10.3181/0708-MR-227, ISSN 1535-3702, PMID 18296732, http://www.ebmonline.org/cgi/pmidlookup?view=long&pmid=18296732 
6. ^ Wasser, SP; Weis (1999), "Therapeutic effects of substances occurring in higher Basidiomycetes mushrooms: a modern perspective.", Critical reviews in immunology 19 (1): 65–96, PMID 9987601