Recent days have seen a nationwide decline of both the confirmed and suspected COVID-19 cases, as well as increase of patients recovering from the illness, which is good news to us. Nevertheless, we still can’t live our life, go to work or school free from the fear of the epidemic.

As people are going back to work from all parts of the country, the epidemic control is now in the second stage, which is still complicated and grave, making managers or employees returning to their posts feel insecure and scared. There is currently no specific Western medicine against COVID-19, and supportive care and symptomatic treatment are major means that are applied. That’s why academicians like Zhong Nanshan and Li Lanjuan emphasize the key role of human immunity when no specific cure is available.

What is immunity?

“Immunity” is a term appearing earliest in the medical book Categorized Formula of Immunity from the Ming dynasty of China, meaning “insusceptibility to diseases”, or prevention of infections. In modern terms, it means the defense against disease development. As the defense mechanism in the body, immunity is an effective barrier to make out and fight off foreign invasive objects.

Immunity is believed to be a “healthy energy” in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). As described in the Medical Classic of the Yellow Emperor, “The existence of healthy energy fights off pathogenic factors”. That means if you have enough healthy energy in your body, pathogenic factors will have no chance of invading. Higher immunity level reduces your probability of getting sick. Conversely, if your immunity is at a lower level, you will have no enough healthy energy to fight against pathogenic factors.

TCM’s key role in the severity of epidemic control

The call for TCM is getting louder and louder with the epidemic control entering into a further stage. The excellent effect of TCM applied during the SARS outbreak has encouraged people to trust TCM’s key role in dealing with infectious diseases.
According to the academician Huang Luqi, leader of COVID-19 Prevention & Control Panel of the State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine, and president of China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, TCM plays an all-round role throughout the COVID-19 treatment, and the auxiliary role of Western medicine is also important. Chinese and Western medicine can work together to help contain the epidemic situation.
Wang Qi, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and a TCM master, said that from the point of view of TCM, a human being gets infected because the virus has found an opportunity to get in. Intrinsically, that’s because there is no enough healthy energy in the body, according to a TCM-based description “Lack of vital energy invites pathogenic factors”. Wang Qi suggests mood relaxation and health maintenance, including staying calm, reducing worries, eating lightly, taking rest or exercise regularly. All these will help improve human immunity.

“TCM is effective in alleviating fever, controlling disease progression, reducing hormone consumption and complications," the academician Zhang Boli said, member of the National Health Commission Panel, expert from the Scientific Research Panel of Working Mechanism of COVID-19 Prevention & Control, and president of Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine. “COVID-19 is the result of a battle between viral infection and the body's immune mechanism. Instead of focusing on the disease itself, TCM treatment is to activate the body's own resistance to disease, and has unique advantages in improving clinical symptoms, reducing complications and improving life quality. This is quite like target treatment that has healing effects on diseases.”

Effective drug is key to TCM treatment

As a treasure of Chinese civilization, TCM boasts a history of more than 5,000 years, and has achieved remarkable results in preventive treatment of disease after a long period of exploration and practice. In controlling the epidemic disease this time, TCM treatment has been included in the COVID-19 Treatment Programs.

" TCM has its unique advantages in preventing and containing sudden and epidemic diseases. In the process of fighting the epidemic outbreak, TCM began to intervene early and achieved positive results,” said Cao Hongxin, former president of the State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine, former director of Science and Technology Division, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences.

In the course of the prevention and control of Chinese epidemic diseases over thousands of years, a set of systematic and unique theoretical and practical systems has been formed for TCM. In this fight against COVID-19, TCM has also received great attention. Since January 21, the "National Teams" of TCM have been arriving in Wuhan one after another, and TCM application has been mentioned in many versions of the COVID-19 treatment programs. Many of the cured patients across the country have recovered through the sole application of TCM or a combination of Chinese and Western medicine. Judging from the current clinical practice, TCM performs better than Western medicine in the COVID-19 treatment.

As a precious TCM material, lucid ganoderma has been highly sought after since ancient times, and its effects of enhancing immunity and preventing diseases have been recognized by many experts. Recently, Sun Guifan, vice chairman of Specialized Committee for Precision Nutrition of China Nutrition and Health Food Association and professor of Preventive Medicine Research Institute of China Medical University, released on February 8 an article entitled “Precision Nutrition Helps Prevent and Control the New Coronavirus Infection Series - Science Popularization II: The Role of Nutrition Supplements”, informing the public of 12 kinds of nutritional supplements that help prevent the new coronavirus infection -- lucid ganoderma on the list. Prof. Sun pointed out clearly that lucid ganoderma can stimulate human immunity, thus directly affecting our ability to fight bacterial and viral infection. Our body's immunity is vital to the treatment of self-limiting diseases like COVID-19 and influenza.

There are also many papers and studies at home and abroad that show that the seed of lucid ganoderma -- ganoderma spore powder, can regulate B cells through the PD-1 protein to improve immunity. As the essential part of lucid ganoderma, ganoderma spore powder contains more than a dozen different types of compounds like triterpene, polysaccharide and sterol, including more than 200 triterpenoids of different structures. With a variety of chemicals, ganoderma spore powder has diverse pharmacological activities and shows a better effect than lucid ganoderma in supporting the healthy energy.

Studies have suggested that ganoderma spore powder shows its effects in two aspects: first, it makes important organ systems function better, like strengthening the heart, protecting the liver, promoting hematopoiesis, and enhancing immune functions; second, it coordinates the functional activities of the body through regulation of the nervous system, endocrine system and immune system and their mutual adjustments, adapting them to changes from the internal and external environment, thus reducing the damage caused by pathogenic factors to the body and improving the body’s disease resistance.

During the epidemic control, lucid ganoderma and ganoderma spore powder are giving full play to their value of maintaining the healthy energy. With our concerted efforts, we’re sure that TCM and TCM preparations will play a vital role in this battle.

At this critical time when people are going back to work, we should overcome fear and use scientific methods to prevent viral infections. In addition to adopting the daily protective measures, we should also strengthen our awareness of prevention, focus actively on TCM-based preventive measures, and learn more about lucid ganoderma and other immunity-improving TCMs.