Deer Antler Velvet has been used for thousands of years in the Orient for impotence in men. It has been referred to as one of the top sexual performance enhancers in the world. It has been said to produce strong sexual desires, increased testosterone, stamina and strength. The royal houses of the emperors are thought to have made the finest advancements through the energy and insights of great Chinese herbalists. Deer Antler Velvet is believed to balance and normalize negative conditions and imbalances. In western medicine, this is called homeostasis or health. This is defined as an optimal balance of mental and physical well being. When the body loses its normal homeostasis, adverse symptoms appear. Symptoms are not the cause of health problems, but rather an expression of the body's efforts to defend its weakest areas and bring the body back into balance. In the Orient, this balance of the body energy is referred to as ying and yang. It has been said that deer antler velvet brings a balance to the ying and yang energies.

What Is Velvet Deer Antler?
Deer antlers grow at incredible speed and, after several weeks, as the antlers reach their final size, the cartilage within them gradually converts into bone. In the final process, the antler's blood supply and nerves are lost. When the antlers have fully hardened, the stags rub them against trees or rocks to remove the skin that remains. As a result of this rubbing, the deer develop sharp bony weapons for combat against threats to their harem of females during the autumn rut or mating season.

Each Spring the antler cycle begins a new and the skin around the pedicle expands and grows, initiating new antler growth. The hard antler from the previous season is cast off and the growth of the new season's velvet crop begins. It is then that the velvet is harvested for its medicinal and performance qualities.

When the velvet deer antler has been removed, it is allowed to cool on tilted racks just before being frozen. It is then ready to be processed. If it is removed at the right time, while still in the cartilaginous state, almost all of the antler can be used for medicinal purposes.

Benefits Of Velvet Deer Antler
Reports from the Orient, Russia, and New Zealand indicate that velvet deer antler has been used for centuries to control blood pressure, increase hemoglobin levels, increase lung efficiency, improve recuperation from exertion, improve muscle tone and glandular functions, sharpen mental alertness, relieve the inflammation of arthritis, and heal stomach ulcers.

Chinese herbal doctors use deer antler as a balancing agent for the endocrine system and in the treatment of penile erection dysfunction in men. Oriental physicians claim it is especially beneficial for men suffering from enlarged prostate glands and watery semen. Oddly enough, velvet deer antler has also been used in the treatment of Menstrual disorders. It contains both male and female hormones In addition to cartilage components, enzymes, minerals, vitamins, anti-inflammatory prostaglandins and, in particular, IGF-1 (insulin-like growth factor)

History Of Medicinal Use
The first documented evidence of the use of velvet deer antler as a medicine was found on a silk scroll recovered from a Han tomb in the Human Province in China. The scroll is believed to be about 2,000 years old and recommends medical treatments and prescriptions for 52 different diseases using deer antler.

Velvet deer antler product called Pantocrine is manufactured by a Russian state pharmaceutical company to assist in the treatment of many different medical conditions (in hospitals) in which post-operative recovery of patients is a key factor. Velvet deer antler has become an elite medicinal food in Asia, New Zealand, and Korea -the world's largest consumer of the product.

Oriental Medicine
The most important animal in oriental medicine is the deer because it is the animal with the most Yang energy. Dr. Peter Yoon of Seoul, Korea claims that velvet deer antler is especially important in increasing the quality and quantity of blood production in the treatment of kidney disorders, anaemia, high blood pressure, and even the elevation of low blood pressure.

Dr. Yoon and other doctors use velvet deer antler to treat impotence in men. Dr. Lee Sangin of Kyung Hee University in South Korea uses velvet deer antler to treat infertility in Women and for liver problems and high cholesterol in both sexes. The medicinal use of velvet deer antler has been going on for 2,000 years, but it is only recently that scientific evidence has been developed to document its health benefits.

Growth Hormone Factors
In scientific studies analyzing the medical properties of velvet doer antler, Dr. Peter Fennessy, General Manager of the Invermay Research Center in pncOtago, New Zealand found that antler extracts improved cell growth and also produced anti-tumour and anti-viral effects. During an investigation into the factors that make antlers grow, the Invermay group measured a natural hormone factor called "Insulin-like Growth Factor-1" or "IGF-1" High levels of IGF-1 were found in deer blood during the antler growth period as well as IGF-1 receptors in the antlers. Dr. Fennessey's team also discovered that the IGF-1 and IGF-2 (a related hormone) promoted growth in laboratory cell lines from mice.'

When we are young, we have a relatively healthy concentration of human growth hormone. In our teenage years, most of us are slim and lean, with low body fat and good musculature. The reason human growth hormone generates lean body mass is its influence on IGF-1. As we age, our growth hormone levels decrease along with IGF-1, which causes muscular atrophy. Velvet deer antler is a natural source of growth factors, which can improve muscular development.

Deer antler velvet has also been shown to be a safe and natural treatment for boosting the immune system, known as immunopotentiation, by increasing the production of white blood cells (lymphocytes).

Velvet Antler, due to its Androgenic activity, which increases the production of testosterone, was used to determine its effects on the liver and kidney. Liver tissue damaged with chloroform was able to recover following Antler Velvet treatment. In follow-up studies the protein formation in both the kidney and liver was enhanced, as a result of Velvet Antler on RNS polymerase (enzyme) activity.

Velvet extracts are found to improve cell growth due to the nutrient rich and fast growing cartilage, which during investigation at AgResearch showed the cartilage contained many growth factors. After preliminary studies were completed, velvet extracts were shown not only to improve cell growth, but also showed anti-viral plus anti-tumor components.

In a study conducted in Japan, ten patients who received velvet antler extract noted a significant reduction in arterial blood pressure. In eight of the patients, the systolic pressure was reduced by 20-70 points and the diastolic was lowered by as much as 10-20 points. This study points to the extract being 80% effective in lowering blood pressure.

As components of antler velvet, anti-inflammatory Prostaglandins assist in reducing the swelling associated with arthritis and injury. Glucosamine sulphate, when taken orally, has a 90% absorption rate. This combined with chondroitin sulphate has demonstrated a slow, but gradual, reduction in the pain of osteoarthritis (of which an estimated 50 million North Americans are afflicted). This combination also gradually rebuilds cartilage and improves joint mobility. Deer Antler Velvet is a natural source of these substances.

Pharmacology

Elk antler is composed of a variety of different tissues, including cartilage, and is also rich in collagen, a crucial protein, and glycosaminoglycans. Glycosaminoglycans help form cartilage proteoglycans, which regulate water retention and cell differentiation. They also help proliferate chondrocytes in cartilaginous tissue.

Velvet antler contains nearly 40 key compounds including:

Chondroitin sulphate, a carbohydrate that attracts fluid into proteoglycan molecules and protects cartilage from destructive enzymes
Glucosamine sulphate, the building block of cartilage and a reported anti-inflammatory easily absorbed by the body
Lipids, to build cells and boost energy
Prostaglandins, powerful anti-inflammatory agents
Monoamine-oxidase inhibitors, which enhance mood
Selenium, which reduces infections, and protects blood cells, the heart, liver and lungs
Calcium, for bones, teeth, nerves, blood clotting and muscle contraction
Collagen, a major structural protein that binds joints together and serves as a main component of articular cartilage
Phosphorus, which helps build bones and teeth, and is a key component of metabolic reaction
Polysaccharides, which helps regulate blood clotting activity
All essential amino acids, the building blocks of protein
Potassium, for nerves and muscles
Magnesium, to help cells restore and release energy
Bone morphogenetic protein, which speeds bone growth
Growth factors, which aid in cartilage cell development.

References:

1) The Deer Farmer, Sep.1992, P.2, Article by John Falloon, Pile Wellington, New Zealand, Trevor Walton, Editor

2) Houck JC, Vickers K. The Inhibition of Inflammation and Acceleration of Tissue Repair by Cartilage Powder. Surgery 1962;51:

3) Prudden JF, Wolarsk R, Balassa, L. The acceleration of healing. journal of Surgery, Gynecology and Obstetrics 1969

4) Prudden JF, Allen J. Clinical Acceleration of Healing with a Cartilage Preparation, a Controlled Study, JAMA 1965;192:

5) Prudden, JF, Mishihara, G. The acceleration of wound healing with cartilage-1. Surgery, Gynecology and Obstetrics 1957;Sept:

6) Ghosh P, Smith M, and Wells C Second line agenda osteoarthritis. in Dixon, JS and Furst, DE, EDA Second Line Agents in the Treatment of Rheumatic Disease, Marcel Dekker, New York, p. 383, 1992

7) Roden L. Effect of hexosamines on the synthesis of chondoitin sulfuric acid in vitro. ArkKeml1956; 10:3.

8) Karzel, K and Domenjoz, R. Effects of hexosamines derivatives and uronic acid derivatives, glycosaminoglycan metabolism of fibroblast cultures. Pharmacology 1971 ;5:337.

9) Setnikar I, Cereda R, Pacina MA et al. Antireactive properties of glucosamine sulfate. Arzsn Forsch 1991;41 (2):157.

10) The Deer Farmer, ibid

11) Rejholec V. Long term studies of antiosteroarthritic drugs: an assesment. Seminars in Arthritis and Rheumatism 1987;1 7:35-63.

12) Morrison LM, Schjeide OA. Absorption, distribution metabolism and excretion of acid mucopolysaccharides administered to animals and patients in coronary disease. CC Thomas, Springfield, p.109.