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Research on transfer factors In the last half-century, dozens of published studies have examined the ability of transfer factors to treat and prevent diseases. Many of them have been wildly successful while others have failed miserably. At present, there is simply too little information to determine why transfer factors have worked in some cases and not others. Until recently, researchers interested in assessing the effectiveness of transfer factors utilized a strategy similar to that utilized by Dr. Lawrence. Specifically, white blood cells from a healthy host, preferably one that had been exposed to the pathogen of interest, were harvested and injected into the target patient following some type of weekly, biweekly, or monthly schedule. It remains unclear to this day what dosing regimen would be optimal, or even effective, when things are done this way. Hopefully, these issues will be resolved by future research. Ingenious technological advances have rendered the use of human white blood cells on a study-by-study basis unnecessary. This should allow for rapid advances in the development of standardized protocols for utilizing transfer factors in disease management. Researchers employed by the few companies now providing transfer factors to the public have taken advantage of the fact that transfer factors are present in colostrum, the first fluid released from a breast after child birth. This is true in humans, cows, and other mammals. They are also present inside of chicken eggs. When ingested by the offspring, transfer factors pass along instructions for the offspring's immune system. They also stimulate the production of Natural Killer cells, white blood cells always on the prowl for foreign invaders and capable of destroying them without involving the rest of the immune system. Despite variability in methodologies and outcomes, decades of research on transfer factors compels the assertion that transfer factors could be as important as antibiotics for battling disease. Antibiotics only target bacteria. Transfer factors can help the body fight bacteria, as well as viruses and even cancer cells. They work by bolstering an individual's own immune system so that it can deal with unwanted guests. They do not attack diseases directly and can only improve health by helping the body do what it's already doing. As such, they fall comfortably within the category of supplements. Transfer factors can now be custom made to assist the body in dealing with specific, hard to treat pathogens – like oral and genital herpes, shingles, cell wall deficient Lyme (a bacteria that can invade immune cells and act like a virus), Epstein Barr (which causes mononucleosis), cytomegalovirus, HIV and others. The true value of this treatment modality is yet to be determined. However, if the past is any guide, the future could be quite bright for this strategy and for those suffering from a long list of diseases for which modern medicine currently offers little hope. 1. When made to help the immune system fight against strains of the herpes virus, transfer factors were found to be superior to acyclovir, an antiviral drug sold by drug companies (Estrada-Parra et al., 1998)
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