Saturday, January 28, 2012

Group calls for moratorium on 'dangerous' smart meters


Group calls for moratorium on 'dangerous' smart meters

Smart meter

   Smart meter
Updated: Wed Jan. 25 2012 11:24:27 PM
ctvmontreal.ca
MONTREAL — The fight against Hydro-Quebec's plan to install smart meters across the province continued on Wednesday as a group of Montrealers called for a moratorium, citing the unknown danger of the radio frequency used by the meters.
"We don't know what's the environmental danger if these smart meters are put in our homes,"said Marie-Michelle Poisson.
A resident of Villeray, Poisson refused to be part of the 18-month, 20,000-customer trial where Hydro-Quebec tested the meters in her neighbourhood and other small markets in the province.
A $350 million project, Hydro-Quebec hopes to have the meters installed province-wide by 2017. The meters can transmit accurate power and water data to the utility, removing the need for manual readings and invoices based on prior usage.
"We have a long way to go is to explain to our customers, one by one, that the technology is safe," said Isabelle Courville, president of distribution for Hydro-Quebec.
Courville said the RF emissions from the new wireless device are 100,000 times below recommended limits. Health Canada compares the signals to those emitted by cell phones and wireless Internet routers.
Despite the reassurances, organizers with the Quebec Coalition to Fight Electromagnetic Pollution want the government to enact tougher standards.
According to McGill Science and Society Director Joe Schwarcz, radio frequency studies are conclusive: the meters will not have negative health effects.
"We know that radiofrequency cannot break chemical bonds and in order to induce cancer you need to break chemical bonds," said Schwarcz.
Poisson cited another concern, her feeling that Hydro-Quebec was ignoring her right to choose.
"I don't have a cell phone, I've never had one. As for WiFi, I will be switching back to cables because I have the choice," said Poisson. "With smart meters, you don't have the choice."

Taverham woman pledges to leave her home of over 45 years if phone mast gets the go-ahead


Residents opposed to a phone mast in Springfield Road, Taverham. Anne Nygren and the electricity sub station beside her house.
Photo: Bill Smith

Taverham woman pledges to leave her home of over 45 years if phone mast gets the go-ahead

Saturday, January 28, 2012
9.19 AM
A Taverham woman is so upset about a proposal for a new phone mast that she says she could be driven out of her home of more than 45 years.
Anne Nygren, 66, says the phone mast would leave her bungalow, on the corner of Springfield Road and Fakenham Road, sandwiched between it and an electricity sub-station.
Miss Nygren, the ex-wife of former Norwich Stars speedway rider Olle Nygren, said: “I wouldn’t be able to stay here. A few years ago I used to suffer from the most horrendous migraines. That doesn’t happen any more but I couldn’t just sit here and wait for that to start happening again.”
The application was lodged by Everything Everywhere, which runs mobile providers Orange and T-Mobile, and the 3 network. It is for a 12ft high mast, along with three antennas and an equipment cupboard at its base.
Broadland District Council has no grounds on which to reject the ‘application for prior approval’ as the government’s stance is that phone masts are needed to meet public demand for phone signal.
Phone masts are designated as ‘permitted development’ nationally, so don’t need planning permission, and local councils are not allowed to refuse ‘prior approval’ because of health concerns – as long as the applicant proves the mast complies with World Health Organisation guidelines.
However, an objection was lodged at a meeting of Taverham Parish Council’s planning committee on Monday night, with around 20 people attending the meeting.
The planning committee’s chairman, John Pennells, said: “I’m quite sure there are better places where this can be put that wouldn’t come in to contact with people as much.
“It would seem the first things these companies look for is where the closes electricity supply is, and that is what has happened here.”
Miss Nygren has been photocopying the planning notice posted by the district council and posting through her neighbours’ letter boxes to try and garner support.
She is asking people to help her in her fight by also lodging an objection, before the deadline of next Thursday.
She added: “I’m in my 60s and now I’m well out of my depth because a lot of this I don’t understand.
“The health impact is my prior concern but of course this will depreciate the value of my property as well.
“So it’s what I’m calling spectacularly bad positioning.”
The phone mast would also be within a quarter of a mile of a proposed 15m phone mast for Vodafone and 02, on the corner of Sandy Lane and Fakenham Road, which has also been campaigned against by local residents.
Miss Nygren has been backed by several of her neighbours, including Peter and Mary Westrup, who have also sent a letter of objection, saying they believe the mast will be “visually intrusive” and also citing their health concerns.
The applicant for the phone mast, Everything Everywhere, declined to comment on the situation while the 21-day objection period is still valid.
Has your community been angered by a planning application? Contact reporter David Freezer on 01603 772418 or david.freezer@archant.co.uk
http://www.eveningnews24.co.uk/news/taverham_woman_pledges_to_leave_her_home_of_over_45_years_if_phone_mast_gets_the_go_ahead_1_1190765#.TyRdkhmCjEY.facebook

Ron Paul 2012 New Ad Campaign


One Man`s Tragic Story

THE TIPPING EDGE – NEEDING TO GO HOME.


My name is Alwyn Lewies and I am 38 years old. I am giving a short background of my life with an illness called Electromagnetic Sensitivity (ES) which I have been struggling with for the past 12 years since exposure from a cell mast.

It started in 2000 with a cell phone tower that was erected at my workplace in Wapadrand, Pretoria. We were approached by a cell phone company who was interested in putting up a tower on my premises and we were assured that the tower would have no effect on us at all.

Unfortunately this wasn’t the truth but the exact opposite than what we were told. Within a brief period since the erection of the first tower, another one appeared only 80 meters away. Four months after these installations, my first symptoms started to appear.

While being at work, I experienced a ‘burning’ sensation in my head. The pain far exceeded that of a normal headache. After going to my doctor, I was prescribed anti-depressants because the doctor said I was experiencing work stress. We thought the stress was the cause for my headaches.

In the beginning my headaches were painful, but bearable. But after some time, the pain became excruciating. I then started to go from one doctor to the next, underwent several tests and brain scans, but all reflected as normal. I started monitoring my pain and realized that I only experienced pain after making a phone call on my mobile phone, and when being close to a cell phone tower.

Research confirmed my assumptions that it was in fact the radiation from these devices that caused my headaches. A short time after, all other electronic devices such as TV’s, electric motors etc. started to affect me. To an extend, I was able to avoid some of these devices, but the cell phone towers were popping up all over the city and was a constant obstacle.

The radiation started to affect me so badly that I wasn’t able to function in any way. I started to experience a new symptom which was the constant ringing in my ears.

As time passed, matters got worse, and I met Dr. Cloete in 2004. For the first time, I was diagnosed with EMS and it was a relief to finally put a name to my illness.

Studies showed that much research has been done, but a cure has yet to be discovered. The best I could do was to boost my immune system as much as possible.

EMS entails that the person is allergic to radiation and electronic devices these allergies affect me the same way that someone suffers from constant hay fever and can’t stand those allergies. Due to the density of the radiation levels, my pain became unbearable to handle. My body simply couldn’t cope with those levels of radiation.

I have met a few people who are also being affected by the radiation.

In 2004 I was forced to seek employment elsewhere at a construction company as my body couldn’t handle the strain of the towers in such close proximity. After two years had passed, I resigned once more after all got worse and I was barely functioning and couldn’t keep track of my thoughts.

Due to a lack of income, we had to sell our house and our family moved in with my parents. The only room where I felt the least pain was on the dining room floor. The electricity had to be switched off at the main switch in order for me to sleep. During the day, I was confined to this small space, because this was the only place in the house with the lowest radiation.

With no improvement after some time had passed, an opportunity came along for me to stay on a sheep farm in the Karoo. My family moved to Cape Town to stay with her parents for the birth of our son. My health improved but the distance between us became a problem. I had to get closer, but I couldn’t move back into the radiation.

I went back to be with them in Cape Town, but I had to sleep in my car every night. I drove to different places to try out where I felt best, but it was very unsafe. This continued for two weeks. After the birth of my son, I was forced to find a place to stay as a family. In June 2007 we found a small cottage in Gordon’s Bay where the radiation was minimal. I was only able to sleep on the kitchen floor where the radiation was lowest. The situation wasn’t ideal, but we were together, and this lifted our spirits.

We managed to stay there for almost a year, but in the beginning of 2009 I felt a new signal in the area which was very strong. The sleeplessness and pain started again and I couldn’t be in the house any longer.

Once more the nightmare started, and I didn’t know what to do, or where to go. The anxiety and uncertainty I experienced was frightening.

The following thoughts were flashing through my mind. I had to leave my wife and two small kids once more and they were too young to understand why I was abandoning them once more. The idea of me having to sleep in my car again was unthinkable and I didn’t know which pain was worse – the burning sensation in my head, or the heartache.

The turmoil continued for two weeks as I slept in my car next to the side of the road where there was no reception. Sleeping in discomfort and fear, the only times I went home was to eat and clean. It was then when I learned about a lady outside a West Coast town called Clanwilliam, who had also been effected from antennae on her office in Cape Town and now also as a result suffered from the same illness and had to leave her family.

I packed the car and left for Clanwilliam, but was unable to afford the accommodation. After taking a trail into the bush, I stayed next to the river without food for several days. I later ended up in a small town in the Cederberg called Wupperthal. It is very secluded from modern society and has no cell phone reception. I managed to rent a small cottage from the Moravian Church who owns the town. There I found relief from my constant pain.

Meanwhile, my family tried their best to visit, but I ended up seeing them only two weekends a month. The distance of 400 km and a very bad gravel road made it a time consuming trip with two young children.

During this period, I did extensive travelling up and down the West Coast and Cederberg and closer to Somerset West in search for a save place to stay, only to come up empty handed. At that stage I spent every second weekend in my car.
In 2009 I had to leave Wupperthal because I wasn’t allowed to rent accommodation for a long period of time seeing that I wasn’t a member of the Moravian church. My only option was to move back to Pretoria. One day I met an engineer who specializes in radiation blockage. He assured me that it was possible to isolate a room from radiation although it would be costly.

During 2010 I did extensive travelling between Pretoria and Cape Town in order to build a safe room, but due to a lack of finances and proper materials it was unsuccessful. I had to remain in Pretoria. In the beginning of 2011 it became clear that my wife was under enormous pressure and I realized that I urgently had to try and get back to them. She struggled to manage with us being apart, the kids and a demanding work.

This forced me to go back and support my family to the best of my ability, while facing the daily agony, no matter how bad. After three months, my body started falling apart from the constant radiation and living in my car. The spot where I spent most of my time was 30 km away from my home.

During this period, I have been inspected by the police, harassed and threatened by people under the influence. On one occasion I was nearly killed when a drunken person crashed his vehicle a few meters from mine. Throughout 2011 I stayed with my family for a period of only 3 months while I spent over 90 nights in my car, thereafter I spent the rest of the year in isolation. It is only by the grace of God that I have managed to stay alive and well through these past years.
I suffered several attacks, similar to epileptic attacks whenever I was exposed to the elements for too long. My wife and I decided that it really was impossible for me to be with them because the next step could be fatal. In the beginning of June 2011 I kissed my family goodbye and left for Pretoria. It felt unreal but I had to push forward for survival.

On arrival at my parents’ house I was shocked beyond my wildest belief. Their house was no longer safe for me to stay at. I started feeling the agonizing sypmtoms where I had previously coped before. A tower had been erected within very close proximity and although I wasn’t sure what type of tower it was, the signal was too strong for me to handle. I thought I had finally run out of options.

I didn’t know where to go or where I was going to sleep. I drove out to a farm 230 km outside Pretoria, close to Polokwane, where I created a man-made tent in the middle of the bush. I have been here since then and haven’t seen my family. In the last 6 months while being thousands of kilometers away.

At this moment I am lonely and cut off from the outside world, friends and family. The only reason I remain here is to sleep and survive. There’s no tower in close proximity of the farm. During the past month my tent, mattress and belongings have been flooded during summer rainstorms.

During the past few years, I have missed several events in my families’ life which can’t be bought. My daughters’ first tooth pulled her first bicycle ride, her first school concert, and my son’s first pictures he drew and the first time he slept without his diaper. I miss the love and support of my wife.

Many other people are starting to show similar symptoms, but it’s being swept under the carpet because the radiation is a multi million rand industry.

In countries such as Sweden, Canada, France, Switzerland and Japan there are certain laws in place to protect citizens from these health hazards. The South African authorities should start looking into this matter because it is becoming a growing concern.

Should the cell phone industry be willing to look into adjusting the cell phone transmissions close to my home in Somerset West, I may have a chance at living a reasonably normal life with my family. I haven’t lived in my home, nor have I slept next to my wife on the same bed in the last 6 years. During the past 6 years I have moved more than 10 times. At his stage I have spent more than 300 nights in my car.

Most of these places are barely livable conditions to stay in. I am tired of being on the run and my body is exhausted I have led a nomadic life and been deprived of my rights being a husband, father and friend. Meanwhile my children are growing up without their father and I’m not leading a fulfilling life. I have a need to be part of my family’s lives, but instead we’re being pulled apart. This is the worse punishment that anyone can endure.

I will continue to fight until the end. I owe it to myself and my family to seek a way to find a normal life. This letter is my last attempt to try and convince the authorities that ES is very real and a life threatening disease. I just want my life back and it really just depends on the cell phone towers closest to my home. I put my trust in God, that He will put the right people on my path that could assist me in ending this terrible nightmare.

At some point in time, the cell phone industry would have to acknowledge that we are facing a major catastrophe which can’t be reversed. I am pleading with them to see the life through my eyes, put them in my position and see things from my perspective. I am pleading for these cell phone towers to be adjusted and that will give me my life back.

I can assure you that it would be the miracle that our family had been praying for the past 11 years. Not just one, but four people’s future could be changed for the better. I implore you to make some small changes that would have enormous positive repercussions in many people’s lives.

I thank you for this opportunity to put my story in writing and sharing it with you. I put all my trust in our system and believe that it won’t be in vain.

Regards

Alwyn Lewies

For further information please contact Adri Lewies : 021 852 4971
adrilewies@gmail.com

Or

Electromagnetic Radiation Research Foundation of South Africa 011 467 1408.
info@emrrfsa.co.za
www.emrrfsa.org

Research on Transfer Factors in Disease Treatment and Prevention

Research on Transfer Factors in Disease Treatment and Prevention


© By Aaron White, Ph.D., USA
Transfer factor (TF) ... has been used successfully over the past quarter of a century for treating viral, parasitic, and fungal infections, as well as immuno- deficiencies, neoplasias, allergies and autoimmune diseases. Moreover, several observations suggest that it can be utilized for prevention, transferring immunity prior to infection ...Thus, a specific TF to a new influenza virus can be made swiftly and used for prevention as well as for the treatment of infected patients.
- Giancarlo Pizza et al, 2006

The last century witnessed several important advances in disease treatment and prevention. In 1949, at a time when the benefits of vaccines were becoming apparent and penicillin, along with the sulfa antibiotics developed in Germany, were gaining reputations as wonder drugs, a New York University tuberculosis researcher named Dr. H Sherwood Lawrence made another important discovery. He extracted intracellular fluid from circulat- ing white blood cells in patients who had been exposed to tuberculosis (TB). He then injected the contents of these cells into non-exposed patients. Using a test for an immune response known as delayed type hypersensitivity, he demonstrated that the non-exposed patient’s immune system now recognized TB and responded to it as though it had already fought it. In other words, immunity to TB was somehow transferred from one person to the next via the white blood cell extract.

In the years that followed, Dr. Lawrence began to refer to the mystery components of the white blood cell extract as “transfer factor,” as they somehow transferred immunity from one patient to the next. Research during the decades since suggests that the information contained in the molecules Dr. Lawrence called transfer factor can instruct the immune system to do several different things, thereby influencing immunity via different routes, and might actually come in several – three to be exact – dif- ferent sizes. Thus, rather than one factor, there seem to be multiple factors involved in transferring immunity.

Where Do Transfer Factors Come From, Why Are They Made, and How Do They Work?
Transfer factors appear to be short strands of amino acids and perhaps small bits of ribonucleic acid (RNA). It is thought that transfer factors are manufactured within Helper T-cells; cells that coordinate attacks launched by the immune system. Once released by Helper T-cells, transfer factors influence immune system activity in several ways. Their presence is read by other immune cells as an indication that a Th1-mediated immune battle is under way (see Glossary for a definition of Th1 immunity). This results in the birth of new Helper T-cells, Natural Killer cells and macrophages, the conversion of young lymphocytes into Th1-related immune cells, decreased levels of Th2-related cytokines, increased levels of Th1-related cytokines and a general strengthening of the Th1 response.

In addition, like antibodies, transfer factors bind to specific antigens. In the case of transfer factors, the antigens are located on the surface of infected body cells. New Helper T-cells use the presence of antigen-specific transfer factors to focus the immune response against particular threats. By sticking to antigens on infected cells, transfer factors presumably flag the infected cells for destruction by Cytotoxic T-cells.
In essence, transfer factors are the smaller siblings of antibodies, but operate to facilitate the destruction of infected body cells via cell-mediated immunity rather than the labeling of free-floating antigens via antibody- mediated immunity.

Transfer Factors In Disease Treatment and Prevention
In the last half-century, hundreds of published studies have examined the ability of transfer factors to help the body deal with diseases. A search of MedLine for work on transfer factors yields roughly 1000 relevant publications spanning more than 50 years. Of those studies, 600 exam- ined the therapeutic value of transfer factors in disease treatment and prevention. By all accounts, casting a wider net reveals thousands more relevant publications.

Cancer
Nearly 100 studies have been conducted on the effects of transfer factors on cancer, either in patients suffering from cancer, or on cancerous cells in in vitro preparations – such as cancer cells grown in laboratories.

Based on in vitro (laboratory) studies, there can be little doubt that transfer factors facilitate the ability of lymphocytes to destroy cancerous tissue. In 2006, researchers in Mexico examined the ability of extracts taken from white blood cells from cows to prevent breast cancer cells from further division and to facilitate their destruction (Franco-Molina et al, 2006). The experiment was successful, and the researchers demon- strated a dose-dependent effect of the extract on cancer cells, meaning that more extract led to greater destruction of cancer cells. The extract had no impact on normal, healthy cells, only cancerous cells, indicating that the constituents of the extract, including transfer factors, specifically help the immune system deal with pathogens and do not damage healthy tissue.

In 2005, Pineda and colleagues (Pineda et al, 2005) reported on a fascinating study in which they examined the impact of transfer factors on glioma – brain cancer involving glial cells – in rats. Here is what they found:

“TF reduced significantly the tumour size, and increased CD2+, CD4+, CD8+ and NK cell counts, it also increased the percentage of apoptotic [dying] tumour cells”

Dozens of studies have examined the ability of transfer factors to help humans suffering from cancers of various types. In 1996, the Italian researcher Giancarlo Pizza and his colleagues (Pizza et al, 1996) reported on efforts to treat a form of prostate cancer typically unresponsive to conventional therapies. The authors generated transfer factors that bind to antigens on prostate cancer cells and injected them into sick patients once each month. In the words of the authors,

“Fifty patients entered this study and received one intra- muscular injection of 2-5 units of specific TF monthly. Follow-up, ranging from 1 to 9 years, showed that complete remission was achieved in 2 patients, partial remission in 6, and no progression of metastatic disease in 14. The median survival was 126 weeks, higher than the survival rates reported in the literature for patients of the same stage.”

Thus, compared to the expected length of survival for men with this form of prostate cancer, it appears that transfer factor treatment significantly prolonged the life of patients in the study. Though such findings are promis- ing, the lack of a true control group – a group receiving everything else but the transfer factors – makes it difficult to determine the role that transfer factors actually played in the patients’ disease progression.

During that same year, Pizza and colleagues (Pilotti et al, 1996) reported on a study in which a control group was used. Ninety-nine patients with small cell lung cancer were given transfer factors and their survival times were compared to 257 patients with lung cancer who were not given transfer factors. Those given transfer factors survived significantly longer than those not given the treatment.

Herpes viruses
There are eight known herpes viruses, including the herpes simplex viruses (HSV-1 and HSV-2), which cause herpes outbreaks on the face and genitals, the varicella- zoster virus (VZV) that causes chicken pox and shingles, cytomegalovirus (CMV), the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) that causes mononucleosis, and the HHV-6 A&B viruses now associated with conditions like ME/CFS and MS. Research evaluating the ability of transfer factors to help the immune system overcome these viruses has yielded overwhelmingly positive results.

Khan and colleagues (1981) examined the ability of transfer factors to prevent relapses in 16 subjects with recurrent HSV-1 (cold sores) and HSV-2 (genital) outbreaks. Patients were injected with broad spectrum transfer factors on a weekly or monthly basis. Following treatment, 8 patients stopped having outbreaks altogether while the remaining 8 exhibited a significant reduction in the frequency of outbreaks. Roughly half of all subjects exhibited low T-cell counts at the study onset, and all patients exhibited an increase in T-cell numbers after treatment with transfer factors.

Pizza et al (1996) reported that 44 patients suffering from recurrent HSV outbreaks – 22 with genital out- breaks and 22 with labial (face) outbreaks – responded positively to treatment with transfer factors specific to HSV-1 and HSV-2. Research from the same lab, also published in 1996 (Meduri et al, 1996), demonstrated the ability of HSV-specific transfer factors to reduce the frequency of outbreaks in those whose outbreaks occurred in the eyes.

Currently, there are several prescription drugs avail- able that are capable of reducing the frequency and duration of HSV-1 and HSV-2 outbreaks. The active component of most such drugs is acyclovir. The drugs differ in the amount of acyclovir that they actually deliver to the body in useable form. When taken daily, it reduces the frequency of outbreaks, and the outbreaks that occur are of shorter duration and lesser intensity. When taken only for acute outbreaks, they shorten their duration but have no impact on the frequency of outbreaks throughout the year.

As discussed above, like acyclovir, transfer factors also reduce the frequency and severity of herpes outbreaks. A few studies have directly compared the efficacy of these two approaches against the viruses. Estrada-Parra and colleagues (1995) administered transfer factors to 20 patients suffering from recurrent outbreaks of HSV-1. Most patients had already been treated with acyclovir prior to their inclusion in the study. Broad spectrum transfer factors reduced both the frequency and dura- tion of outbreaks in patients. Their observations led the authors to conclude:

“These results suggest that, at present, TF may be con- sidered the therapeutic agent of choice in the treatment of herpes simplex type 1 disease.”
The findings of the above study are limited by the fact that no direct comparison to acyclovir was actually made. The superiority of transfer factors over acyclovir was inferred from the comparison of current treatment outcomes to the patients’ prior experiences with acyclovir and other drugs.

In 1998, this same group of researchers reported findings from a study in which they directly compared the effectiveness of transfer factors and acyclovir against outbreaks of VZV, the herpes virus that causes chicken pox in kids and shingles in adults. In this study, 28 patients with acute outbreaks of shingles were given either transfer factors or acyclovir for seven days and then monitored for another 14 days. Transfer factors were superior to acyclovir at shortening the duration of the outbreaks. Further, transfer factors, but not acyclovir, increased the number of Helper T-cells and improved other markers of immune function.

Research with lab animals, like that with humans, demonstrates the powerful effects of specific transfer factors against herpes viruses. Viza et al (1985) assessed the efficacy of transfer factors in preventing the deleterious effects of HSV-1 and -2 by adminis- tering HSV-1 and -2 specific transfer factors to mice before exposing them to a normally deadly dose of the viruses. The HSV-specific transfer factor prepara- tion protected the animals from death. Interestingly a transfer factor preparation specific to CMV rather than HSV-1 and -2 did not protect the animals from the lethal dose of HSV.

Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV)
At its core, the pathogenesis of HIV and its progres- sion to AIDS involves a debilitating attack on cells that comprise the Th1-mediated immune response, particularly Helper T-cells. It seems logical to expect that transfer factors could be powerful adjuvants in the treatment of HIV given their ability to trigger increased levels of Helper T-cells, as well as Cytotoxic T-cells, Natural Killer cells and macrophages. Cur- rently, only a few studies have examined the utility of transfer factors in the treatment of HIV/AIDS, but the available data are promising.

Carey et al (1987) assessed the impact of transfer factors from healthy controls on immune system function in nine patients with HIV infections that had progressed to full- blown AIDS. They concluded that: 

“... administration of transfer factor to patients with AIDS resulted in partial immune reconstitution. Further studies are indicated to examine the clinical efficacy of this immune response modifier in the treatment of AIDS.”

In 1996, Giancarlo Pizza and colleagues reported on a study in which they administered HIV specific transfer factors, in an oral preparation, to 25 patients infected with HIV. They noted clinical improvements or a stabilization of clinical markers in 20/25 patients.

That same year, Pizza and colleagues (Raise et al, 1996) reported the results of a study in which they directly com- pared groups receiving standard antiviral therapy to those receiving combined antiviral therapy and HIV-specific transfer factors. Patients received either Zidovudine alone or in combination with transfer factors. Those receiving the Zidovudine-transfer factor combination exhibited a larger increase in Cytotoxic T-cell counts and in the levels of inter- leukin-2, a critical immune messenger that promotes the genesis of T-cells and promotes the Th1 immune response in general. Interestingly, however, there were no differences between the groups regarding actual levels of Helper T-cells.

A 2002 report from Russian scientists also suggests that transfer factors could play an important role in the manage- ment of HIV (Granitov et al, 2002). The researchers examined immune cell counts in HIV patients administered a com- mercially available oral transfer factor supplement. Fifteen patients were treated with transfer factors alone. Ten patients in a control group were treated with common antivirals for HIVbutnottransferfactors.Treatmentlastedforonlyseven days and immune measurements were taken one week later.

The majority of subjects in the transfer factor group exhibited increased levels of Helper T-cells and Cyto- toxic T-cells. The pattern of cytokine release was altered in transfer factor-treated subjects in a way that facilitates Th1 immune activity. Levels of circulating immune complexes, which reflect the combination of an antibody and an antigen, were reduced to normal levels in 10 of 15 subjects. In the control group, positive changes were as likely to occur as negative changes. In the words of the authors (Granitov et al, 2002):

“We conclude that transfer factors therapy consider- ably improves the immune status of HIV-infected patients and can be recommended in combating the pathogenesis of the disease. Further studies are needed to determine optimal therapy, the necessity to repeat courses of the treatment and the frequency of therapy needed.”
Two recent studies from researchers at the Center for Biological Research in Havana, Cuba, suggest that transfer factors are capable of directly interfering with HIV repli- cation (Ojeda et al, 2000; Fernandez-Ortega et al, 2004).

Using Transfer Factors to Transfer Immunity
It appears that supplemental transfer factors allow a person not previously exposed to a pathogen to skip the immune response normally required to trigger the creation of transfer factors for that particular pathogen. Transfer factors transfer “memory” for immune battles of the past, no matter in which host those battles originally took place. As far as the transfer factor recipient’s immune system is concerned, it has already been exposed to the pathogen, and thus reacts promptly if the pathogen ever enters the body. By preparing the immune system for a pathogen before it enters the body, transfer factors remove the element of surprise critical to infestation by infectious agents and prevent cellular invasion by viruses, mycobacteria and cell wall deficient bacteria.
22
Let us look at an interesting example in which the ability of transfer factors to transfer immunity was used to protect patients from contracting an illness. In 1980, Steele and colleagues used transfer factors in an effort to immunize young leukemia patients against chicken pox, caused by VZV. In the words of the authors:

“Sixty-one patients with leukemia and no immunity to chickenpox were given dialyzable transfer factor or placebo and followed for 12 to 30 months in a double-blind trial designed to examine the clinical efficacy of transfer factor. Sixteen patients in the transfer-factor group and 15 in the placebo group were exposed to varicella zoster, and most of them had a rise in antibody titer. Chickenpox devel- oped in 13 of 15 exposed patients in the placebo group but in only one of 16 in the transfer-factor group.”
Thus, when patients with leukemia and no resistance to chicken pox are treated with transfer factors for the chicken pox virus, almost everyone develops immunity to the virus.

Availability of Transfer Factors
Until quite recently, transfer factors were only used in hospital settings, most outside of the U.S. They were cus- tom-made for patients from human blood cells in a labora- tory and were not available to the public or to most MDs. In the last decade, several companies began using patented processes to extract transfer factors from cow colostrum and chicken eggs. Such extracts are now widely available. The ability to obtain transfer factors from colostrum and eggs is a remarkable development with the potential to significantly alter the future of disease treatment and prevention.

Summary
Research strongly suggests that transfer factors are effective for helping the body beat an array of disease states that involve faulty or overloaded immune function and can prevent infec- tions before they occur. Transfer factors seem to prime the body for battle against intracellular pathogens, like viruses, mycobacteria and cell wall deficient bacteria, and help quash infections before they can take root. Transfer factors turn non-immune-related white blood cells into immune-related white blood cells and stimulate the birth of new Helper and Cytotoxic T-cells, Natural Killer cells and macrophages. After stimulating an increase in T-cell counts, transfer factors orient these new T-cells toward a target, presumably by influencing the nature of the antigen receptors expressed by the cells. Fur- ther, by binding to antigens on infected body cells, transfer fac- tors paint infected cells for destruction by Cytotoxic T-cells.

Given in supplement form, they can be used to help the body beat infections. Given before infections occur, they act in a manner similar to vaccines and protect the body from becoming infected. While antibodies are at the heart of antibody-mediated (Th2) immunity, transfer factors hold the key to cell-mediated (Th1) immunity. 

This article is comprised of excerpts from the book, A Guide to Transfer Factors and Immune System Health, 2nd Edition (North Charleston, SC: BookSurge Publishing, 2009) by Aaron White, PhD.

Before joining the National Institutes of Health last fall, Dr. White was an assistant professor in the Department of Psychiatry, Division of Medical Psychology, at Duke University Medical Center.

Glossary

Th1 response: Immune response triggered by Th1 Helper T-cells. Natural Killer cells and Cytotoxic T-cells are used to identify and destroy cells infected with viruses and bacteria. Also important for fighting cancer cells, fungi and parasites. The pathway to cell- mediated immunity. Suppressed in people with many immune- related conditions and infections, like Lyme and HIV.

Th2 response: Immune response triggered by Th2 Helper T-cells. B-cells are used to produce antibodies which label extracellular pathogens for destructon. Pathway to humoral or antibody- mediated immunity. Overactivity here involved in allergies and autoimmune conditions. The response primarily evoked by standard vaccines.

Transfer factors: Strands of amino acids and RNA released by Th1 Helper T-cells. Signal other Helper T-cells to direct resources toward Th1 response. Like antibodies, they bind to antigens, but on the surface of infected body cells rather than on free- floating pathogens. Thought to label infected cells for destruction by Cytotoxic T-cells. Small enough to be absorbed orally. Can transfer immune information from one person or other animal to another. Their importance for disease treatment and prevention could be on par with antibiotics and vaccines.