The minister for health in Ireland Leo Varadkar announced funding in the autumn for the use of “medicinal mushrooms” to combat pneumonia. In all €13.5million is to be allocated.
Thirty-two teams received awards of up to €330,000 and must be completed over three years, while four will receive up to €800,000 over five years.
The team from Athlone Institute of Technology and NUI Galway hope to use a novel combination of adult stem cells and medicinal fungi to help a person’s immune system fight pneumonia infections.
Pneumonia accounts for 5 per cent of deaths and is the most common cause of acute lung injury and acute respiratory distress syndrome, for which there remains no specific therapy.
Once again the science is leading the way in showing that the medicinal use of fungi is not just some bogus, alternative, faith based approach to health; but that there are real health benefits to be gained investigating the medicinal properties of mushrooms.
