Verifying Ancient Claims

Today, clinical and scientific research using the extract of velvet antler is proving the validity of claims made by traditional medicine. The groundbreaking work carried out by AgResearch into the benefits of velvet is attracting attention from around the world and the research results are showing this ancient remedy to be one of nature’s safest multipurpose energy tonics.

Evidence of the medical benefits of velvet antler is growing, according to Dr Jimmy Suttie, leader of the scientific team which is coming up with some exciting discoveries, and world expert on deer velvet research. The trials so far have concentrated on testing extracts of velvet antler on growth, endurance and stamina, immunology, anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer activity.

Results from these trials have shown that treating human white blood cells with extracts of velvet antler stimulated the immune system, as measured by increased production of white blood cells. This response— immunopotentiation in scientific terms—is the body’s defence mechanism, as increased numbers of white blood cells are produced to fight infection. Treatment with velvet, from varying parts of the antler, consistently produced a powerful response.

Velvet antler has also demonstrated potent anti-inflammatory and growth stimulating properties.

Research is presently being carried out in Korea using velvet antler in conjunction with cancer therapies and while a great deal of work remains to be done, the results of these tests carry major implications for Western medicine with the very real probability of velvet being prescribed in mainstream therapies, both as a preventative and to support some remedial cancer treatments.

As the Game Industry Board’s former chief executive Rick Christie said, "There is extensive anecdotal evidence of velvet’s effectiveness, but now we’re generating some rational scientific evidence to verify those claims. That’s an important step for velvet in the international natural health market."

Further trials carried out by AgResearch testing athletes for increased muscular strength and endurance has also had very encouraging results, reflecting previous research carried out in Russia, and giving evidence as to the effectiveness of the velvet antler extracts used in Soviet Olympic training programs.

At the forefront of research in New Zealand and abroad has been the development of commercial deer velvet extracts in which the biologically and clinically active substances are highly concentrated. Since the 1930s, Russian scientists have developed and extensively tested the extract known as pantocrin. To obtain pantocrin the dried, crushed velvet undergoes a series of alcohol extractions and is then filtered and dried, forming a yellow crystalline substance. The pantocrin is then used medicinally in three forms, as a liquid alcohol extract, as a solution for injections, and as tablets. The extract from reindeer velvet, known as rantarin, is also widely used as a medicinal preparation throughout Russia.

"Very little of the ash, nitrogen, phosphorus or protein is extracted from the antlers in the preparation of pantocrin. Conversely, most of the fat in the antler is extracted into pantocrin... Hence, pantocrin is essentially the lipid fraction of velvet antlers." And, as mentioned previously, it is in the lipid that the valuable active ingredients are found.

Long before velvet antler had stirred any interest in the Western scientific world, Russian researchers were carrying out some interesting studies of their own into the major remedies of Oriental medicine. At the Institute of the Physiology and Pharmacology of Adaptation, Vladivostok, Professor Israel I. Brekhman and colleagues had begun a systematic exploration of over one hundred traditional Chinese remedies, noting the combination of herbal and other substances used in the recipes, their active components, and how the medicines were prepared and taken.

Among the great variety of herbal formulas Brekhman analysed, most were composed of the roots and leaves of various plant species, with ginseng, the ‘king of herbs’, heading the list. But also standing out among the few animal remedies listed were young deer antlers, otherwise known as velvet antler, or the Russian pantui.

It was due to Brekhman’s further research into the pharmacological properties of ginseng that the wall of superstition and mystery surrounding Chinese medicine was penetrated, slowly but surely changing the attitude of the Western world towards this ancient system of health. Today, of course, ginseng is universally known and freely available from health food stores and even supermarkets across the world. It has become one of the best selling herbs on the American natural healthcare market.

However, the research of Brekhman and Professor S. M. Pavlenko into deer antler velvet is not so well known, although several volumes of medical studies on velvet have been produced in Russia over the past fifty years, mostly originating from the Institute of Biologically Active Substances in Vladivostok. Brekhman’s tests for the pharmacological activity of velvet were adopted as a standard quality test for velvet antler, and in 1962, pantocrin was approved for general sale by the Ministry of Health. Since that time it has been widely prescribed and taken by thousands of people in Russia, and its effects have been carefully documented.

The extensive body of scientific literature from Russia, as well as Korea and China, proves and supports the traditional use of velvet antler.

In particular Russian studies using pantocrine, an alcohol/water extract, have shown that velvet antler has hypotensive, erythropoietic, anti-stress, stimulating, anti-inflammatory, gonadotrophic, growth and metabolic effects.

Pantocrin’s use as a tonic in cases of mental and physical strain, hypertension, neuroses, sexual weakness and anaemia is endorsed by the Ministry of Public Health of the Russian Federation.

It is routinely used to treat such physical disorders as stomach ulcers, chronic gastritis, hepatitis and cerebral arteriosclerosis, and for the mental disorders schizophrenia and epilepsy. Russian practice is to administer the extract in diluted form—25 to 40 drops in water twice a day as part of a two to three week course.10

While the Russians have been convinced of velvet’s high therapeutic efficacy for decades, Western health authorities demand hard scientific and clinical data before there is any chance of velvet becoming accepted as a medicine. But already a large body of literature exists which documents the pharmacological effects of velvet, and in the following pages we will take a closer look at these fascinating areas of research.

Reprinted with permission from:
Velvet Antler - Nature's Superior Tonic by Alison Davidson,
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