Caterpillar Fungus: The Viagra Of The Himalayas http://www.npr.org/2011/10/09/141164173/caterpillar-fungus-the-viagra-of-the-himalayas October 9, 2011 In the produce aisle at your local grocery story, button mushrooms go for about $4 a pound, Shitakes cost about twice that, and black truffles can run $800 a pound. But that's nothing compared to a rare Asian fungus that sells for $50,000 a pound. Daniel Winkler Caterpillar fungus in the ground, partially exposed. In English, it's called caterpillar fungus. But it's better known throughout Asia by the Tibetan term, yartsa gunbu, which means "summer grass, winter worm." Britt Bunyard, a professor at the University of Wisconsin and editor of Fungi Magazine, explains that this fungi ( Cordyceps Sinensis ) makes its living by getting inside a host insect and ultimately killing and consuming it. In this case, the insect that's invaded is the caterpillar of the ghost moth. "This caterpillar will bury itself down a couple inches into the soil. Meanwhile it doesn't know it, but this fungus is digesting it from within and then in the spring this ... tissue erupts out the head." It may sound gross, but he says this pinky-sized mummified caterpillar is the most expensive fungi in the world. "The price doesn't compare to other fungi; the price compares to things like gold and platinum and diamonds." So what makes it so pricy? Well, it's also known as the Viagra of the Himalayas. Daniel Winkler A yartsa gunbu dealer in the town of Bayi, Tibet. An Aphrodisiac, Maybe, A Status Symbol For Sure Yartsa gunbu was mentioned as far back as a 15th century Tibetan medicinal text titled "An Ocean of Aphrodisiacal Qualities." These days, that reputation has made it a status symbol. Daniel Winkler, who's written extensively about the fungus and gives mushrooming tours of Tibet, says the price in China has jumped by a factor of 10 over the past decade. Winkler says a businessman looking to impress in China wouldn't pull out a fine pinot noir to flaunt his wealth; he'd cook up some nice goose or duck and fill it with $1,000 worth of caterpillar fungus. Big Money In Small Villages Because it is so valuable, yartsa gunbu has led to violence. Last August in Nepal, seven men went missing after a dispute over yartsa gunbu and two of them were later discovered dead at the bottom of a steep ravine. The deaths caught writer Eric Hansen's attention. Hansen, a freelance writer in New York, had lived and traveled in Nepal but never came across the famous fungus. So he decided to try and find it in New York City's Chinatown. "Sure enough there it was, in the first herbal apothecary I went into there were four big glass jars of the stuff selling for between $500 and $1,300 an ounce," Hansen says. Hansen became so enthralled by this worm that he went back to Nepal to see the harvest. "As soon as they see that yartsa gunba is sprouting in these high, high alpine fields, the whole village just empties out," he says. "Everybody climbs up into the mountains and spends pretty much six weeks crawling around looking for the tips of yartsa gunbu." A good harvest can triple a Nepali's yearly income and transform communities. Hansen points to the village of Nar as an example. "The whole town used its yartsa gunbu profits to buy solar panels. So now you have this centuries-old stone hamlet, and on the corner of each building is a solar panel about the size of a board game," he says. Potential In The U.S.? Here in the U.S. yartsa gunba hasn't really caught on. It could be that it is just too expensive, or it could be the lack of scientific studies to prove its effectiveness. Professor Britt Bunyard says he knows of no U.S. pharmaceutical companies that have extensively researched yartsa gunbu. When Eric Hansen tried the fungus in Nepal, he says, he felt "nothing." "My back pain didn't ease, my eyesight didn't sharpen, I didn't feel like springing out of my chair and taking a jog, my loins were not aflame and my libido did not rage." But so long as yartsa gunbu is all the rage in China there are still fungal fortunes to be made.
这种事情似乎时常会发生。看来，美国市场上也有很多公司打着营养保健品的旗号，往保健品里面非法掺入市场上出售的壮阳药物，或者是结构功能都很相似的化合物。 这种事早晚是要被查出来的，下面新闻里提及的这个公司已经主动把产品从市场上撤销。GOOGLE到那个产品的网页， http://www.vialipro.com/ 点击进去是PAGE NOT FOUND, 需要使用CACHE： http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:YBsm4ZMDuL8J:www.vialipro.com/+Vialiprocd=1hl=enct=clnkgl=us 详细内容可以点击上面的链接。这里摘录一句最可怕的： Vialipro has no known side effects and it can be taken on a regular basis if desired 。问题显然是很大的，可能没有副作用吗？ 不明真相的顾客很可能真的把它当成了常规（regular）武器了？ 下面是一家销售网站的截屏，注意广告词中间有纯天然（All Natural）的虚假宣传。 http://www.usalifestyle.net/theproducts.cfm?master=10024owner=651kw=vialipro_frcid=163 看来，以后大家对保健品都应该有所警惕，说不定吃了有副作用的药都不知道。很难说，国内的壮阳保健品（或者是所谓的中药）里面没有同类假冒产品。期待着药监局的人员担负起责任，对市场上的保健品做些调查。 刚在网上搜到一篇2007年的会议报告，讲的就是针对这类假冒产品的技术分析。医药方面的人员不要错过下载和学习的机会： h ttp://www.usp.org/pdf/EN/eventsEducation/asMeeting/2007Tampa/presentations/track1session1.pdf 有两点值得注意：这是个全球性问题；虽然早在2002年FDA就查出过相似的问题，这事却在不断地发生着。 参考：FDA的最新安全信息，指出了该营养品的实质和潜在的副作用。 http://www.fda.gov/Safety/MedWatch/SafetyInformation/SafetyAlertsforHumanMedicalProducts/ucm219580.htm Vialipro Dietary Supplement: Recall-Undeclared Drug Ingredient AUDIENCE: Consumers ISSUE: Good Health, Inc. is conducting a voluntary recall afteran FDA lab analyses found that the product tested from certain batches of Vialipro contain Sulfoaildenafil , an analogue of Sildenafil , an FDA-approved drug used as treatment for male Erectile Dysfunction (ED) making this product an unapproved drug. The undeclared ingredient may pose a threat to the consumer because the interaction of the analogue with some prescription drugs (such as nitroglycerin) may lower blood pressure to dangerous levels. Consumers with diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, or heart disease often take other prescription drugs. BACKGROUND: This product is currently being sold as a dietary supplement throughout the U.S. The affected lot numbers being recalled can be found in the company's Press Release. RECOMMENDATION: Consumers who have purchased Vialipro should discontinue its use and return it to Good Health, Inc. Report adverse events or side effects related to the use of this product to the FDA's MedWatch Safety Information and Adverse Event Reporting Program: Online: www.fda.gov/MedWatch/report.htm Phone: 1-800-332-1088 Mail: return the postage-paid FDA form 3500, which may be downloaded from the MedWatch Download Forms page, to address on the pre-addressed form Fax: 1-800-FDA-0178
这几天比较忙，但是看到美国食品药物监督局（FDA）的这个新闻，还是写篇短文，供感兴趣的读者参考。写得有点乱，请读者原谅。 FDA今天发布了一个新闻，指出一种名为 魔力咖啡 （ Magic Power Coffee）的保健品里面含有一种和 伟哥 非常相似的成分，因此也具有和伟哥相似的副作用，【可能与某些含有硝基的药物相互作用，导致危险的血压降低】，并且警告消费者不要使用它。 http://www.fda.gov/Safety/MedWatch/SafetyInformation/SafetyAlertsforHumanMedicalProducts/ucm216355.htm Magic Power Coffee: Undeclared Drug Ingredient Audience : Consumers, Family Practice ISSUE : Magic Power Coffee, an instant coffee product marketed as a dietary supplement for sexual enhancement, contains the drug ingredient hydroxythiohomosildenafil , a chemical similar to sildenafil , the active ingredient in Viagra . Hydroxythiohomosildenafil, like sildenafil, may interact with prescription drugs known as nitrates, including nitroglycerin, and cause dangerously low blood pressure . FDA is warning consumers not to use this product. BACKGROUND : The product is distributed on Internet sites and online auctions by multiple independent distributors participating in an online multi-level marketing scheme. It is sold in a 2-serving box and a 12-serving carton containing six 2-serving boxes. RECOMMENDATION : Consumers who have Magic Power Coffee should stop using it immediately. The FDA advises consumers who have experienced any negative side effects from sexual enhancement products to consult a health care professional and to safely discard the product. Healthcare professionals and patients are encouraged to report adverse events or side effects related to the use of these products to the FDA's MedWatch Safety Information and Adverse Event Reporting Program: Online: www.fda.gov/MedWatch/report.htm Phone: 1-800-332-1088 Mail: return the postage-paid FDA form 3500, which may be downloaded from the MedWatch Download Forms page, to address on the pre-addressed form Fax: 1-800-FDA-0178 下面是两个分子的结构：两个差别，一个是C=O换成C=S,另一处是甲基换成羟基取代的乙基。估计结构改变对活性影响不大，下次看看伟哥在活性中心的结构就清楚了。 【伟哥的分子结构】 【Hydroxythiohomosildenafil 的结构】 查阅销售魔力咖啡的网站，它引用了布隆伯格新闻（ Bloomberg News ）的一篇文章，认为伟哥和 淫羊藿 的不同点不足以维护伟哥专利的某些内容，从而使得辉瑞控告礼来公司的另一个壮阳药（ 西力士 ，cialis）侵权失败。 http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchivesid=aCcNwtvlGWds Pfizers patent on its impotence drug, Viagra , was partially rejected after the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office said it wasnt different enough from a Chinese herb known as horny goat weed . An appeals board within the agency on Friday upheld a decision that an element, or claim, of the patent for a method of treating male erectile dysfunction didnt cover a new invention. 但是魔力咖啡网站也承认了他们那个保健品里面也含有 淫羊藿 。 【注：该网页广告较多，不建议点击：-）】 http://magicpowercoffeeclub.com/ The finding from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office is the active ingredient in the little blue pill ( Viagra ) is basically the same as horny goat weed which we have in Magic Power Coffee 这就有些混乱了。搞了半天都是中药啊。 虽然上面那篇 布隆伯格新闻 指出 美国专利和商标局 查出了 淫羊藿 含有一个成分，也能够抑制伟哥起作用的那个蛋白酶（ PDE5 ），但是没有指出它的活性有多大。【读到这里，估计辉瑞的专利是想保护所有能够抑制PDE5的药物。】 辉瑞认为没有证据显示 淫羊藿 能够治疗ED，而且指出光靠 淫羊藿 还不行，还需要 yellow rice wine, genital massage, rest, bathing in an herbal mixture and abstinence from intercourse ， 不知道从哪个老中医那里抄来的，至少《本草纲目》里面没有那么写。他们大概不是蔑视几千年中药的威力，而基本上是通过临床和药物审批程序的角度来否定 淫羊藿 的作用从而达到商业上的目的。 参考： 《 本草纲目》 里面对 淫羊藿 的记载 http://www.duosuccess.com/BZGM/y022.htm 【我的理解是纯天然的 淫羊藿 里面含有伟哥的可能性是0， 因为伟哥是专门设计出来的小分子，不太可能有巧合。当然，有可能 淫羊藿 里面的一些分子和伟哥结构上或者功能上（抑制PDE5）相似，但是活性是多少还不太清楚。 有一点是肯定的，那就是无论它的功能如果，即使是纯天然的产物，它的副作用肯定是存在的。消费者需要使用的话还是谨慎点好，最好是找你的医生，看看在这个重大问题上，该靠西药还是看中医。】
Google 能增强知识的性功能 培根说：知识就是力量。 俺说：知识是可以繁殖的。 众所周知，性功能强大，繁殖能力也强大。 如果你有个一流图书馆的电子帐号，你用 Google 上网看文献，非常轻松自在，想看什么就看什么，想找什么就找什么。 用 Google 可以繁殖知识。 如果说知识就是力量， Google 就是知识的性功能。 如果刚有 Google ，而没有图书馆的帐号，知识的性功能就被结扎。 如果刚有图书馆帐号，而没有 Google ，知识的性功能就被阉割。
Google ＝男人生殖器：可用于功德，也可用于犯罪 对于知识分子来说， Google 就是他们的知识生殖器。 众所周知，男人的生殖器，可用于功德，也可用于犯罪。 男人生殖器的最大功德就是传宗接代， 而且是自然而然的传宗接代， 古今中外，都是如此。 男人生殖器的传宗接代功能， 是真真的千秋功德伟业，万世大同根本。 男人的生殖器也可用于犯罪， 是一个强烈地依赖于时间的函数。 男人生殖器犯罪的界定， 不同的年代有不同的标准， 发展趋势是越来越宽松。 老九知识分子， 几乎每天都在使用 Google ， 不是 Google 这个公式，就是 Google 那个定理。 老九把 Google 当作生殖器， 白天用，晚上也用。 大款和大官人把伟哥当 Google ， 白天伟，晚上也伟； 伟了二奶伟三奶， 伟了三奶伟四奶。 千秋功罪，伟哥和 Google ！
标签: 伟哥
