The medical mushroom extracts and the art of survival-Pathogens and the immune system

The relationship between the immune system and the pathogens has always played an important role in the development of human societies. Due to the diseases brought in Mexico’s population decreased from 20 million to 1.6 million from 1518 within 100 years. The Europeans could thank these continents’ successful conquest to these diseases more than to their weapons.

One year after the World War I more people (20 million) died due to the flu epidemic than during the war. Malnutrition also contributed to the spreading of the epidemic.

During the last century the average life expectancy increased with 30 years. This is due to the improvement in hygiene, the improvement of water quality, to vaccinations and to antibiotics. In this day of age the presence of viruses, bacteria and parasites in our organisms are considered to be the triggering causes of many serious and incurable diseases. These kind of diseases are for example cancer, cardiovascular diseases, arthrosclerosis, obesity, sclerosis multiple, diabetes, Alzheimer’s disease, schizophrenia, Parkinson’s disease etc.

25% of the people in the USA who had a stroke had never had cardiovascular risk factors (overweight, hypertension and smoking). However, in these cases the CRP number which indicates the inflammation is higher. This is why scientists concluded that the arthrosclerosis is partly infectious. It is understandable that beyond our organisms’ immune system a new behavioural and cultural immune system developed which helps the survival of the individual and the society. One important element of this behavioural immune system is the disgust. The disgust is occurring when we feel the parasites’ and the pathogens’ presence. People with a huge overweight problems, can also trigger disgust which can be explained as obesity and can occur as an effect of a virus or it can be enhanced by one. Of course it can be irrational very often as someone who suffered a permanent injury in a car accident is not infectious but can trigger this reaction.

The disgust of pregnancy in the first trimester protects the embryo from the infections. During the pregnancy the organism overwhelms the immune system- due to the higher progesterone level the activation of NK cells also decreases significantly. The embryo’s genetic material is half strange to the mother so this is the reason why the weakening of the immune system is necessary so that it can’t attack the embryo. As the organism’s immune system is weakening the behavioural immune system becomes stronger which decreases the probability that the pregnant woman gets pathogens in her organism. The detection of scent and tasting changes, nausea, sickness and the aversions become more significant. As most of the pathogens are in the meat the disgust of pregnancy directs to this very often. Spicy food can trigger disgust as well. It can be thanked to the fact that spices are natural anti-pathogenic substances they are natural antibiotics and in different cultures people spice food which may contain pathogens. In the countries where the occurrence of pathogens is frequent (mainly in the hot zone) people spice the food with stronger spices. During pregnancy they decrease of iron level is an anti-pathogenic process the presence of iron can foster the reproduction of many pathogens. As meat contains a remarkable amount of iron the disgust of meat was formed due to this not only because it can contain pathogens. Pregnant women in the first trimester prefer a healthier lifestyle, their belonging is stronger to their group of people and their dislike is worse with foreigners.

Those people who consider themselves more vulnerable against diseases are more afraid of those whose lineaments refer to some diseases. Women’s attraction to men is specified by many factors. One factor is the insurance of the descendants’ healthy and effective genetic substance and immune system. Women prefer men with higher level of testosterone as partners in the short run. Testosterone overwhelms the functioning of the immune system so only those men can have a higher testosterone level whose immune system is extremely strong and compensates the immune weakening effect of the testosterone. While women in their fertile periods and while taking contraceptives they prefer men with masculine features. As men with higher testosterone level are considered to be less loyal women often choose men with feminine traits for the long term as they are considered to be more loyal, so women can expect them to take care of their descendants as well. Parenting improves the survival of the children significantly. Men with a masculine face and higher testosterone level divorce more often, marry less times, they are not as affected by child cries, they are more antisocial, genetically healthier but their investment in their relationship and children is smaller. ‘Behaviour optimising advantages’ is when a women chooses a loyal partner for a long term but they have their children from a masculine man. Scientists estimate this kind of behaviour to 10-12 % in the western world. Men and women equally prefer symmetric faces. It is because people with symmetrical faces and body seem to be healthier. The absence of symmetry can indicate the resistance of harmful and bothering factors during the development. Parasites and pathogens can be harmful to the symmetry so injuries, discoloration and abnormality in behaviour can occur. This explains that symmetrical men have more partners beyond their primary partners; they have more children and less serious diseases. The aberration from symmetry (length of fingers and ears) and the smaller physical variances (hypertelorism, distant eyes) can mean instability during the development. This developmental instability can be caused by parasites, pollutant and toxic materials, malnutrition, maternal alcoholism or genetic difference. Those people who feel vulnerable against diseases and pathogens are more afraid of the face which features refer to some diseases; they are attracted to the healthier faces as they are afraid of the morphological differences. Women prefer men with masculine features more in those countries and cultures where the health problems hazard the survival as the number of pathogens is higher and the level of health care is very low. Men can also discover signs of health and fertility on women’s face. The extent of the fertility and health is associated with the level of oestrogen.

Many studies comparing countries and territories came to the conclusion that the existence of infectious diseases in a given country is the predictor of the national intelligence, IQ. Compared to this neither the GDP nor the effect and quality of the years of education were remarkable. The development of the brain and the troubleshooting and survival of the infectious diseases are in conflict with each other. The brain’s development from the aspect of metabolic processes is really expensive. In the case of newborns the brain consumes 87% of the total energy, at the age of 5 44% and at the age of 10 34% in the cases of grown men 23% and for grown women 27% of the total energy. If someone can’t satisfy the energy needs of the development of his/her brain then he/she can suffer a brain damage. For example underfed children have smaller heads and smaller brains. Women whose hips are wider than their wrists and their descendants’ intellectual capacity are higher. This is because the hip’s and the thigh’s fatty tissues contain long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids which are really useful to the development and the growth of the brain. These mobilize during the pregnancy and breast-feeding and foster and beneficially influence the development of the descendant’s brain.

Parasitic infection also influences the development of the brain. It has many reasons. Some parasites for example bacteria feed on the tissues of the body which leads to energy loss. The pathogens for example hookworm, bacteria and amoebae can cause diarrhea and can prevent the absorption of dietary. Viruses use the organism’s cells for their reproduction which takes energy away from the body and from the development of the brain. The body has to activate the immune system against the pathogens to parry their attacks which also abstracts the energy. These influential factors, infectious diseases can harm the development of the brain and the intelligence. During the infection the brain receives less energy. The studies state that the high intelligence predisposes the low exposure to infectious diseases. Those people’s bodies that are exposed to infectious diseases don’t develop optimally their brain, body symmetry and intellectual capacity and can suffer damage.

Protection against parasites manifests on the level of behaviour and culture. It was unexplainable for a long time why there are much more religions in the places with warmer climates. Despite the fact that the Ivory Coast’s and Norway’s territory has almost the same size the Ivory Coast has 76 and Norway has 13 religions. Brazil’s and Canada’s extension is also similar and while in Brazil there are 159 in Canada there are 15 known religions. The anti-infective behaviour extends even to the drawing of boundaries between and inside the groups. Religions’ basic function is the bypass and limitation of the infectious diseases within the religious group. As the stress effect of the infectious diseases is different and changes with the territories it is usually higher in the warmer climates just like the number of religions. The complexity of religions is higher in the territories where infectious diseases are more complex as well. Religions originate from the anti-infective behavioural norms and from the cultural borders between different groups. Features of the anti-infective behaviour norms are the restriction of being away from the residence (phylopatry, patriotism, the love of home), contact with people with similar immunology and the limitation of contacts with strange infections and the fear of foreigners (xenophobia). To the effect of the anti-infective behaviour the currency of ideas and values decreases or ceases new borders from within the groups and the borders between the groups strengthens. According to the studies we have to revalue the role of the religions, their roles are basically the avoidance and treating of infectious diseases. The anti-parasitic behaviour determines not only the religions’ but also the different languages’ complexity.

The load with parasites and pathogens determines the complexity of the existing languages. Moving towards the tropic countries the complexity of the languages grows fostering the maintaining of the borders inside and between the groups. We have mentioned before that the subjective fear of foreigners becomes stronger together with the fear of infections. They usually identify foreigners with diseases for example rat, worm and louse. Unknown people can bring in such pathogens, diseases to which the natives’ immune system is not used to. Foreigners can have different or unusual habits. They can have different practises of hygiene; they can insult traditions which can stop the spread of diseases. Foreigners can trigger disgust as well, the feeling which might have been formed by taking toxic and harmful materials. Of course rejection of foreigners can have disadvantages as well as it prevents the formation of new relationships and alliances and the transmission of technologies. In the territories where the diseases are more frequent the advantages of the fear of the foreigners can be predominant over the disadvantages. In these places the people are more careful, their attitude towards unknown things is conservative they are more careful in the fields of sexual behaviour. In the territories where the load of parasites is lower people are more open, curious, experimental, they are also willing to change the status quo. According to the above it is obvious that the incidental decrease in the parasite stress plays an important role in the development of the democracies. The antibiotics, the presence and usage of vaccinations, the increase in the security of water and food, the improvement of the health infrastructure and hygiene preceded the liberation of western social values with 1-2 generations. This led to a sexual revolution for the toleration of freer sexual behaviour during the ‘50s and the ‘60s. The civil and women’s rights strengthened the rights of the lesbians and homosexuals were partly recognised. In the case of lower parasite stress the individualism, democracy, feminism, the liberation of average social values is strengthening. In the cases of lower load of pathogens human populations are more open to the new things. So in those countries where the load effect of infectious diseases is higher women are inferior to men, the attitude is more conservative the traditional values are more important and women are restricted sexually.

All in all, we can say that the widespread of the good quality medical mushroom extracts could foster the changing of social values. The medical mushroom extracts are effective against most of the infectious pathogens, enhances the resistance of the organism and decrease the fear of infectious diseases at the same time. The medical mushroom extracts foster the strengthening of innovation tendency, the like of novelties and the toleration of idiosyncratic behaviour the creation and strengthening the relationships outside the groups and can foster the liberation women from the social control of men. It can facilitate civil rights and political representation of women. Where the load of parasites is higher the gender equality is stronger the behaviour of the people is conformist, the society is ethnocentric, the fear of the new is stronger. The outlined powers are excessively powerful as the fear of parasites, pathogens and foreigners can be associated with the fear of death. This fear is significantly decreased by the complex anti-pathogen effect of the medical mushroom extracts. The decrease of the fear of death has effects not only on the society but also on individual and physical levels. It can cause spiritual liberation as well.