FAQ - Transfer Factor
Is there a Transfer Factor product created for topical application?
Yes, TF Renewall has been formulated for external application to support the body's first line of immune defense: the skin. Please consult with a physician for information on specific skin conditions.
ALLERGIES:
Milk allergies are caused by the large milk proteins primarily casein, and to a lesser extent, the immunoglobulins. These proteins are removed from transfer factor.
Unlike antibodies that are large molecules, transfer factors are quite small.4,5 There small size makes them nonallergenic.6,7
ANTIBODIES:
Unlike antibodies that are large proteins, transfer factors are small peptides containing about eight amino acids.The small size of the transfer factors makes them non-allergenic. Antibodies are consumed by directly attaching themselves to the offending cell or protein. Transfer factors perform a different role. Transfer factors are immune messenger molecules that educate and alert naive immune cells to an impending danger. In this regard transfer factors perform a catalytic role in the immune system, triggering the affect without themselves being consumed. ~ Transfer factor preparations consist of three identifiable fractions.
APPROVAL:
Foods and dietary supplements are not approved per se by the FDA. Food supplements derived from milk would certainly fall under the category of Generally Recognized As Safe (GRAS)
Transfer Factor XF™ is produced within the bounds of a USDA certified plant which follows established protocol for dairy production, including pasteurization and safety guidelines. Furthermore, Transfer Factor™, as a human-grade product, exceeds standards established for animal-grade products. Each batch of Transfer Factor XF™ undergoes strict microbial and potency tests to assure quality time after time.
CLINICAL TRIALS:
We are currently running three studies including the humanitarian work we are doing at Nkosi's Haven. The Kenyan study is waiting funding.
A general trend is that those on HAART therapy respond with relatively low doses of TF+. We have had one individual whose drug regime caused a liver enzyme surge that was best contained by using plain TF as a nutritional support. In the cases of African Slim Disease (wasting), 6 TF+ per day resulted in significant weight gain with subsequent recovery of strength and activity. Two of the six participants in one section of our US AIDS study reported significant improvement in lean body mass within the first 30 days of TF+ supplementation (6/day).
4Life has made available three booklets containing condense information from the volumes of research available on transfer factors and the components that were brought together in Transfer Factor Plus™. The first booklet is Transfer Factor by William Hennen, Ph.D. the second is called Enhanced Transfer Factor, also by Dr. Hennen. A third booklet by Rita Elkins, MH, is also entitled Transfer Factor, and is written in layman's terms so the general population can gain additional knowledge. Each of these booklets contains hundreds of references.
CONTINUAL USE:
Preventing a problem is safer than trying to cure it after you are ill. With the number of deadly germs that are taking their toll on our society, I plan to protect my loved ones with transfer factors. Sometimes an illness can damage body organs beyond repair. The wide benefits of transfer factors are still being explored. A healthy immune system is crucial to your overall health, cell cleansing, and cell rejuvenation. Within our bodies, there is a continuous battle between the "good" and "bad" bacteria. Giving your immune system a break can actually allow your body to direct its energies elsewhere.
Yes. The Transfer Factor works best when taken daily. The volume of TF in your blood affects its effectiveness. If you discontinue use, your immune system will miss out on its daily support.The immunity received from Transfer Factor™ is short-term. When a germ enters your body or you are vaccinated, a deep survival mechanism is triggered within your immune system. The memory of the illness is stored through a different pathway to the transfer factors within your body. Experienced knowledge, exchanged from transfer factor to transfer factor, is not as long- lasting. Once the consumed transfer factor is washed from your body, within four to six weeks the immunity is lost. The information is transferred to your own transfer factor, but that transfer factor will eventually die, and the information is diluted down through a few generations.
The volume of TF in your body is important. Every area of your body is vulnerable to attack from germs. The transfer factor must come in contact with the germ to recognize it. The more TF you have policing the body, the greater the chance that germs will be spotted early in the race for victory.
Even a reinforced immune system can't always keep you well, but it can make a tremendous difference in how ill you become and may save the life of a loved one.
There are two avenues that the immune system uses to learn and store information. One is from storage to storage (transfer factor) and the other is through the encounter with the germ itself. Information that is transfered from transfer factor to transfer factor fades as each generation of transfer factor passes the information down to the next generation of transfer factor. Each generation loses information. The life of the information is approximately 5-6 weeks.
When an actual germ enters the body or a vaccination is given, the learning process is a complete immune learning experience and the memory last longer in some instances. Another reason that you must continue to consume transfer factor regularly is that volume is important. You must have a certain volume of transfer factor in your system for that particular transfer factor to have an impact on the overall immune system function. This is one reason why whole colostrum doesn't create immunity. There is not enough tf in it.
The transfer factors we received as infants are just purposeful as those available in Transfer Factor™. As infants, mother's colostrum gave immune information while our immune systems were not fully developed, but the transfer factors were absorbed into the bloodstream and eventually were used up to become part of the functioning immune system, consisting of lymphocytes, natural killer cells, macrophages, etc. The information provided at birth was to work against the specific threats experienced by your mother at that time; after years of life new threats to the immune system exist. By using oral transfer factor we are providing the same type of immune information we received at birth.
DISCOVERY:
In 1949, Dr. H. Sherwood Lawrence made a revolutionary discovery while studying tuberculosis. He determined that an immune response could be transferred from a donor to a recipient by injecting an extract of white blood cells (leukocytes) from a previously infected, now healthy, subject into a newly infected patient. He found that this extract contained a factor capable of transferring immunity³. He named the substance "transfer factor." Dr. Lawrence's discovery came in the midst of the discovery and use of antibiotics. Transfer factors have been used throughout the antibiotic age in different regions of the world such as China, Poland, Italy and others, but never have been available commercially due to the lack of technology. In the fifty years since Lawrence's pioneering work, an estimated $40,000,000 has been spent on research resulting in over 3,000 published scientific papers documenting the benefits of transfer factors. The world's leading scientists and physicians have established the safety and remarkable immune system benefits of transfer factors. The processing methods that allow for large-scale extraction of transfer factors have only recently been perfected and a commercial product has only been available within the last few years.
Generally, the effects are very similar no matter how transfer factors enter the body. Because transfer factors originate in the blood, the source of transfer factors is identical whether they reenter the body in concentrated form such as 4Life™ Transfer Factor™, or by injection.
HEAT:
Yes, the normal pasteurization process is applied to the colostrum followed by low temperature heat dehydration. The peptide structure of transfer factor is not broken down or effected at the heat level that is used in the pasteurization process. Vitamins, herbs, and peptide structures each have a different threshold at which heat is harmful to its bio-activity.
Yes. Colostrum undergoes a brief heat process that is limited to proper pasteurization methods. This amount of heat does not affect transfer factor activity.
A proprietary protein stabilization method is used to maintain transfer factor activity during the processing of Transfer Factor.
HOW:
Transfer factors are tiny molecules found in colostrum, which provide "immune knowledge" from a mother's immune system to her baby used in recognizing and fighting outside threats. By transferring information from cell to cell, transfer factors serve as "teachers" to the new cells, ensuring a strong immune system capable of surviving, even thriving, in its new environment. Transfer factors are not species-specific and can therefore be extracted from any mammal and then be given to another mammal with the same efficacy.
MANUFACTURING:
4Life manufactures it's own products in order to maintain control over quality and availability.
SAFETY²:
There have been no adverse responses reported while taking Transfer Factor during pregnancy. As with all supplements, consult a physician before use.
TF and TF+ are compatible with any other type of nutrient.
Transfer Factor has been consumed for many years with no reported side effects. Studies have shown no toxicity. The recommended maintenance amount is 3 capsules a day.
There is no known toxicity level associated with Transfer Factor™.
Some individuals do use more for added immune support during short duration. The best and safest way to begin using Transfer Factor Plus™ is to use the recommended serving size as listed on the product label.
STOMACH ACIDS:
Stomach acid or digestive enzymes do not degrade the potency of transfer factor.
TOXICITY:
4Life Transfer Factor™ has a long history of safety with millions of doses taken without incident among humans or animals.
We have tested for overdose in vitro up to 2,000 times the recommended dosage with no negative side effects.
The study that Dr. See performed in vitro (on cultured blood), showed no toxicity on the blood markers when tf was added at the amount of 2,000 times the recommended dosage.
We have had most of our office and many others on Transfer Factor for three years now with no negative affects.
As far as the biochemistry involved, there is no problem. Molecularly the structure is exactly the same as what is in our blood. The only difference is that the 8 amino acids rearrange themselves to recognize the antigens each particular transfer factor has been exposed to.
VALIDATION:
Since Lawrence's discovery of transfer factor in 1949³, there have been over 3,000 scientific studies published on transfer factor.
WHAT:
Transfer factors are memory molecules in your immune system that store all of the experiences of your immune system. They police your body looking for invading germs. A transfer factor is a peptide of 40 amino acids, which change their arrangement to form different communications. These amino acids act like the alphabet. You can arrange the twenty-six letters of the alphabet into thousands of words that communicate meaning. These amino acids can form into thousands of arrangements. Each of these arrangements describe a particular bacteria, virus, parasite, or fungi. Other immune cells can read this biochemical communication. Cells within your body communicate between themselves to form combat strategies in order to keep you well.
Don't confuse amino acids with protein. It requires more than 100 amino acids to constitute a protein. Amino acids are the building blocks to many different chemicals and substances in the body besides proteins. Transfer factors are the "brains" of the immune system.
Through a special patented process licensed to 4Life Research™, concentrated transfer factors can now be extracted from cow colostrum.
Isolated transfer factors have been determined to be a chain of small peptides consisting of 44 amino acids. Amino acids are the building blocks of proteins.
No. It is a supplement unlike any other. It is in a class of it's own
These are an inducer fraction, a antigen specific fraction and a suppressor fraction.¹ The immune system must be able to respond quickly, respond specifically and not exhaust itself by over responding and attacking normal tissue. The three transfer factor fractions were named because of the discovered affects they had on immune system. The inducer fraction triggers a general state of readiness in the immune system. The antigen specific fraction is an array of critical tags used by the immune system to identify a host of enemy microbes. The suppressor fraction is as important as the other fractions in that the components of this fraction keep the immune system from focusing all its strength on a defeated infection while ignoring new microbial threats. The suppressor fraction is also responsible for controlling allergic reactions and blocking autoimmune disorders.
WHERE:
In the blood and in the first milk after a mother gives birth.
References:
1. Biotherapy 1996;9(1-3):1-5
Transfer factor--current status and future prospects.
Lawrence HS, Borkowsky W.
Department of Medicine, New York University Medical Center, New York, NY 10016, USA.
2. Biotherapy 1996;9(1-3):175-85
In vitro studies during long-term oral administration of specific transfer factor.
Pizza G, De Vinci C, Fornarola V, Palareti A, Baricordi O, Viza D.
Immunodiagnosis and Immunotherapy Unit, S. Orsola Malpighi Hospital, Bologna, Italy.
3. Proc Soc Exp Biol Med 1949;71,716
The Cellular transfer of cutaneous hypersensitivity to tuberculin in man.
Lawerence HS
4.Ann N Y Acad Sci. 1993 Jun 23;685:362-8.
Structural nature and functions of transfer factors.
Kirkpatrick CH.
5. J Interferon Cytokine Res. 2000 Apr;20(4):439-41.
Eleventh International Congress on Transfer Factors: March 1-4, 1999, Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, Mexico.
Dumonde DC, Kirkpatrick CH, Pizza G.
6. Eur J Cancer. 1977 Sep;13(9):917-23.
Effect of in vitro produced transfer factor on the immune response of cancer patients.
Pizza G, Viza D, Boucheix C, Corrado F.
7. Proc Soc Exp Biol Med. 1985 Mar;178(3):468-75.
Transfer factor for the treatment of HBsAg-positive chronic active hepatitis.
Roda E, Viza D, Pizza G, Mastroroberto L, Phillips J, De Vinci C, Barbara L.