Published October 2004 in Nutritional Practitioner Magazine (ISSN 1472-0094).

Allergies and asthma are two examples of histamine-mediated allergic responses. Both conditions are increasing in frequency and are difficult to target with modern medicine. The modern approach to drug research is target specific and does not consider the natural defense mechanisms of the body or the causative factors (a cytokine TH1 to cytokine TH2 shift) underlying histamine-mediated allergic responses. Ganoderma lucidum (Reishi) as immunonutrition, with its unique array of compounds working in concert, could play a major role in treatment of histamine-mediated allergic responses.