Popular question
Can lingzhi affect medical checkups?
Doctors have reported two situations that people taking lingzhi should know about. First, some patients with digestive-tract cancers who were receiving chemotherapy had marked rises in the CEA and CA72-4 after taking a lingzhi spore supplement, which fell again after they stopped. Second, some patients who took lingzhi powder had large numbers of spores in stool tests that were mistaken for parasite eggs. Telling your doctor that you take lingzhi or spore powder before a checkup or follow-up test can save you a needless scare.
This topic includes 2 studies and reports, each linked to its source.
Terms explained on this page (2)
- tumor markers
- Blood markers (such as CEA and CA72-4) that doctors use to help monitor tumors. They can also rise for other reasons.
- case report
- A doctor’s detailed account of an individual patient, written to alert colleagues to something that may happen.