Deer and Elk Velvet Antler

Coming of Age at 2,500: velvet antler makes a bid to enter the scientific mainstream

April 2000, Banff, Alberta. This is the time and place that nutritional supplements based on deer and elk antler finally achieve scientific recognition in the west - a recognition that has been taken for granted for well over two thousand years in the east.

It is possible that you've never heard of antler as a nutritional supplement. Or that you lump antlers in with other "fringe" substances like rhinoceros horns or tiger's teeth. This is all about to change - in fact it has already changed for a select segment of the nutraceutical research community.

Banff 2000 was the first international symposium and founding meeting of the Antler Science and Product Technology Society, a new scientific society dedicated to studying antler products in human and animal nutrition and health care. Yes, it's supported by the industry, and exists in part to support the ranchers, distributors, and retailers of antler-based products. But it also offers peer-reviewed forums for scientific skepticism to fully express itself. This is miles above the atmosphere for a host of other alternative product categories that come to mind. In a word, the antler people are doing it right. If antler becomes the next "supplement du jour" to reach fad proportions - and there is a good chance that it will - it will have unprecedented technical validation for its effectiveness and safety.

Some antler background: Antlers are nothing like rhinoceros horns or tiger's teeth. Elk and deer antlers regenerate every year, and are probably the fastest growing animal tissue known. Antler is the only mammalian bone structure that regenerates annually. "Velvet" antler, the form used for nutritional purposes, is harvested from the deer or elk about half-way through the annual growth cycle. This is nothing like the inert and calcified horn or tooth; velvet antler is loaded with growth factors, immune factors, cartilage, glucosamine sulfate, chondroitin sulfate and collagen.

These last two substances are currently in favor by those seeking a natural remedy for arthritis. Even the FDA recognizes their effectiveness, and allows structure and function claims for joint health. But when they are naturally packaged in velvet antler, the various co-factors seem to result in a significant performance edge over the isolated chemicals when it comes to repairing damaged joints.

Velvet antler is also one of a very few natural sources for IGF-I and II, the secondary hormones that do the work for human growth hormone. These are probably the substances responsible for increased effectiveness of chondroitin sulfate and glucosamine sulfate in velvet antler. The only other natural sources of growth hormone are colostrum (the "first milk" produced shortly after a cow or a human mother gives berth) and blue-green algae nucleus (chlorella is the most available source).

There's more - much more - including the effects of antler on osteoporosis, athletic performance, and sexual function. (For the full story, may I recommend my new book, _The Remarkable Heeling Power of Velvet Antler_, available through my website at www.bettykamen.com.)

What new information was presented at Banff? Here's my summary of the most significant developments:

Session 1 dealt with "Antler Biology and Growth Factors." Some fascinating work is being done with artificially inducing or suppressing antler generation. As the only mamallian appendage capable of regeneration, the ultimate goal here might be to induce regeneration of other tissues in humans. Practical applications are a very long way off. but the possibilities are intriguing. Transplants of specialized tissue have produced antlers in unusual locations, hormone manipulation has controlled antler regeneration, and manipulation of the day/night lighting cycle has been shown to accelerate antler growth.

Most of this work is coming from Canada, New Zealand, Germany, the U.K., and Russia. One interesting new discovery by researchers in Goettengin, Germany, is the fact that antlers retain an internal circulatory system right up to a few weeks before the antler is naturally shed. Even in the fully "calcified" mature condition, the antler still contains a lot of living tissue. Even an antler shed in the wild will be gnawed on by other animals, who presumably know the value of what they are eating.

Session 2 discussed techniques for antler removal - and the jury is still out on the best method to use.

While it's an exaggeration to say that "the animal is not hurt" during the antler removal process, it's also fair to say that this is a relatively benign procedure compared to the horrors of the slaughterhouse. More like pulling a tooth than an amputation. However, there is a lot of concern from both inside and outside the industry that the process used should minimize stress and trauma for the deer or elk during antler harvest.

General anesthetics are mostly out of favor due to tiny but measurable residues in the antler-derived products. Local anesthesia, applied in a ring around the antler base, appears to effective but takes time to work. But there may also be measurable residue in the antler, and even if the substance is something commonly regarded as very safe in much much larger amounts, such as lidocane, it's presence remains a negative factor. It also takes time for the local anesthetic fo become effective, and during this time the animal, not nearly as familiar with handling by humans as other species of livestock, is under a great deal of stress.

This has led to two other techniques: "Electronic analgesia," in which alternating electrical current seems to suppress nerve sensitivity; and "compression analgesia," in which a tight ring around the antler base has the same effect. Each method has its advocates and detractors - although it's interesting to note that the veterinary community is accused of being biased towards chemical methods because in some areas these methods require a veterinarian to be present.

There was even some suggestion that the most humane method is the quickest, involving no pain relief at all and a bare minimum of time spent under restraint.

Elk can't talk, so we're still guessing. But the relative tolerance of the animals to these procedures suggests that antler products might have an important role to play in the diets of vegetarians. This is the only animal tissue product that can be eaten without doing serious harm to the animal that produces it.

Session 3 was devoted to antler chemistry and identification of bioactive constituents. This is a huge area of study, and researchers from Canada, the U.S., Korea, New Zealand, Australia, and Russia all contributed.

The basic building blocks of sugars, fatty acids, amino acids and nucleotides combine to construct polysaccharides, lipids, proteins, and nucleic acids. Within each of these categories are many substances that have one role to play in antler growth and development, and another function in human or animal supplemental nutrition.

One interesting concept presented is that bone is the most abundant storage site for growth factors, especially those that control bone repair and regeneration. Velvet antler, composed of a rapidly developing matrix of bone and cartilage, is a potent source. FGF-1, or fibroblast growth factor, is particularly abundant. Is it unique to antler, or simple present in higher quantities than in other nutritional sources? Does it play an important physiological role as a supplement? With each growth factor "family" consisting of dozens of distinct growth factors, it will be some time before these questions are answered. A researcher from the Department of Oral Biology at the University of Alberta suggests that the use of antler as a better bone grafting material might not be far off, even before these issues are fully understood.

It was also suggested that the growth factors IGF-1 and IGF-2 might be derived more from the blood present in velvet antler than from the antler tissue itself. The humans diet has included a significant amount of animal blood for millions of years -and only recently have we started to avoid blood and other non-meat animal components. Even traditional Asian antler preparation involves draining most of the blood from velvet antler before it is sliced and sold to be used to make medicinal tea or broth. Of the modern processing methods - heat drying, freeze drying, and alcohol or aqueous extracts - freeze drying is thought to be the best way to preserve the effectiveness of growth factors. But each method retains some advantages over the others, depending on the therapeutic goals.

One team of Korean researchers identified the following substances in velvet antler: A hematopoietic stem cell stimulator, an immune stimulant, an antifungal agent, an antiepileptic agent, and an acetylcholine esterase inhibitor. This group is very interested in antler-derived pharmaceutical applications, and has already filed a number of patents for processes that could result in drugs to improve immunity, fight candida, suppress fungal infections, and help epilepsy and Alzheimer's disease.

My own preference is to avoid unpacking these trace elements from the natural blend - and to use the whole natural package to help avoid these diseases rather than to attempt to cure them. But progress on the pharmaceutical front will be fascinating to watch.

Session 4 examined the clinical and medical efficacy of velvet antler.

There is broad consensus that antler is "chondro-protective," mainly due to high levels of chondroitin sulfate and other gylcosaminoglycans. This means that it protects and restores damaged cartilage, the source of arthritic pain.

Small-scale clinical trials have already demonstrated that pain-relief from antler-derived products can be comparable to that of NSAIDs (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs) with the important difference that side effects tend to be good rather than bad, and there is no known risk associated with long-term use. More trials are underway, but results are not yet published.

Additional hard data is available from the veterinary community. One study by the Cedar Animal Medical Center in Gallup, New Mexico, found that 70% of arthritic dogs treated with antler supplements showed a positive response. This trial involved 150 animals over two years.

Veterinary experience also suggests that most users are still significantly under-dosing. A dose as high as 10 mg of antler per pound of body weight was proposed - which result in 1500 mg per day for a 150 pound human, or six 250 mg capsules.

On the theoretical end of the scale, an Australian researcher from the Institute of Bone and Joint Research at the University of Sydney suggests that genetic material from antler could induce human cartilage to regenerate: "Cartilage cells can be obtained from patients with cartilage injuries at the time of arthroscopy and we propose that by inserting the collagen II related antler matrix protein gene into these cells then transplanting them back into the defect they would lay down a new matrix to repair the lesion."

Meanwhile, researches at the University ot Texas see an important role for antler products in the fight against osteoporosis. They have identified "bone morphogenetic proteins" which, along with the fibroblast growth factors, are known to have powerful anabolic (tissue building) effects on bone.

Two sets of animal studies from Korea provided more data. In one trial, significant increases in bone density were induced in post-menopausal rats, implying a role for velvet antler against osteoporosis. In another study, response to physical stress (as measured by swimming ability) was significantly improved in the animals that had their diets supplemented with antler extracts.

The fifth and final session examined the nutraceutical markets in North America and Asia.

There is little doubt that antler will become enormously popular as a self-administered therapeutic supplement in the next few years. Questions centered around methods by which the industry can adapt to rapid growth, and necessary safeguards against poor quality control and market exploitation.

My own presentation addressed the positioning of velvet antler in the North American health products market, while other speakers discussed similar issues in Asia and Russia. Collectively, we made the point that North American marketing faces hurdles that have been passed thousands of years ago in the Far East, where the medicinal value of velvet antler has always been taken for granted.

In North America we have popular skepticism to overcome. This skepticism is only amplified by antler's reputation as an aphrodisiac. Although some of the beneficial effects of antler supplements on sexual function are very real, it does the product little good to be marketed as "natural viagra" and associated with other extravagant claims.

Still, there could be just enough reality in these claims to fuel the next fad in nutritional supplements.

An agricultural economist from the University of Alberta presented an enlightening mathematical model of supply and demand in a rapidly evolving market. His conclusion is that a wave of new demand approaching fad proportions will be a bad thing for everyone involved - the industry will be better served by slower growth.

Summary: Is it safe?

When scientists ask questions, they invariably come up with more new questions than answers. This is certainly the case with velvet antler research.

In view of all the new and old uncertainties about the composition and physiological effects of velvet antler, how can we know if it is really safe for human consumption?

The answer is clearly laid out by the history of human nutrition. For millions of years, humans and human ancestors ate nearly all of the animals they killed. Blood, brains, organ meat, connective tissue, bone marrow, and every body part were all consumed, and consumed raw. It's only in the last 125,000 years that people began cooking food on a regular basis, only in the last 10,000 years that cereal grains like wheat and rice became dominant in our diets, and only in the last century or two that non-meat animal components have been left off the plate.

Velvet antler is a way of putting back some of the things that we're missing, things that are bodies are designed to thrive on. We can't bring whole fresh-killed animals home to our kitchens, even if we wanted to. But we can take antler supplements.

The question I feel compelled to ask is this: is it safe to not use an antler supplement?