Latin: Cervus spp.
Chinese: Lu rong
WHAT IT DOES: Deer antler is
sweet and salty in taste and very warming in action. It tonifies
and stimulates deficient Yang metabolic energy, increases sex drive and
strengthens the heart, bones, and blood. It increases the ability
to work.
RATING: Yellow, due to highly stimulating nature
SAFETY ISSUES: Use cautiously with cases of severe emaciation and dryness
STARTING DOSAGE: • Velvet or tip of antler: 500 mg one to three times per day. Start with low dosage and increase slowly.
TCM doctors use the velvet and tip of young deer antler to treat
fatigue, coldness, cold hands and feet, tinnitus, male impotence,
hypothyroidism, and general metabolic weakness. It strengthens
the tendons and bones, making it an effective treatment for
osteoarthritis and osteoporosis. The Chinese believe that the tip
of the antler contains the most nutrients so it commands the highest
price. It nourishes the bone marrow, stimulates red blood cell
production and increases cardiac energy output. It also speeds
the bone healing. We use it frequently in our clinic to
strengthen cancer patients who have been weakened by chemotherapy or
radiation.
Deer antlers are amazing structures. They demonstrate the
incredible metabolic energy of these animals. Everyone knows that
strong fingernail growth is a sign of good health, but consider the
rapid annual growth of these bony structures, covered with living
velvet and enriched by large blood vessels and nerves. The
antlers of species such as the red deer develop each year in about 150
days, during early spring and summer. This is a tremendous
metabolic achievement.
Research highlights
• Androgen hormones are substances that stimulate male sex organ
function. These hormones and various growth factors are factors
in deer antler formation (Li et al., 1999; Francis and Suttie, 1998).
• As deer antlers grow, supportive nerves must grow in tandem, at a
rapid rate of up to 1 cm per day. This growth rate is related to
the presence of neural and other growth factors (Garcia et al., 1997;
Suttie et al., 1993, Suttie et al., 1995). This indicates that
deer antlers may be beneficial in nerve regeneration.
• Chinese studies report that deer antler speeds healing of fractured
bones, strengthens heart output in patients with severe fatigue (at
moderate, not high dosage), and stimulates production of reticulocytes
(young new red blood cells) and hemoglobin (reported inYeung, 1983).
references