Immune and Autoimmune
BOVINE COLOSTRUM FOR AUTOIMMUNE DISEASES
If you are battling with any disease or chronic illness, you can bet your immune system plays a part. Colostrum keeps your immune system in balance. It stimulates an under active immune system, and more impressively, it can suppress an overactive immune system. This is extremely beneficial when dealing with an autoimmune disorder.
In autoimmune disorders the immune system attacks healthy tissues of the body. Being able to naturally suppress an over active immune response can help with diseases like multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, type 1 diabetes, asthma and allergies, anemia, lupus and AIDS.
Those with an underactive immune system are susceptible to invading microbes and infections. Strengthening the immune system keeps the body protected from invading pathogens and stimulates the natural healing process of the body.
Autoimmune diseases like lupus, multiple sclerosis, fibromyalgia, rheumatoid arthritis, even HIV can be hugely improved by the intake of colostrum. In cases of autoimmune disease an allergen triggers a severe allergic response that in turn damages the body’s tissues. For example, multiple sclerosis is an autoimmune disease that affects different parts of the nervous system through the destruction of the myelin sheaths--the membrane that protects the body’s nerves. This destruction produces any number of symptoms, including blurred vision, staggering gait, numbness, dizziness, slurred speech and even paralysis. In short, the results can be devastating.
In 1983, Polish researchers discovered a small protein chain called Polyprotein-rich Peptide (PRP) in colostrum. This immune factor was found to have the same ability to regulate the immune system as the hormones of the thymus gland. PRP is able to stimulate T-cell precursors to form helper T-cells, prompting the immune system into action against pathogens. More impressive, however, in relation to autoimmune disease, is PRP’s ability to “turn-off” the immune system. It does this by telling the T-cell precursor to produce T-suppressor cells. These are the cells that slow down an overactive immune response, thereby stopping the attack on the body’s own tissue.
Bovine colostrum is helpful for the autoimmune diseases sufferer in many ways:
- It contains numerous anti-inflammatory compounds.
- It contains rejuvenating compounds that help restore the integrity of the intestinal tract, the nervous system, and other body tissues that make up organs and glands.
- It contains a compound known as PRP (proline-rich peptide), which has been found to help balance the overactive immune response in autoimmune diseases.
- It helps support healthy levels of serotonin, the feel good hormone, thus overcoming depression often common with chronic health issues.
- It supports overall hormonal balance. Hormonal balance plays an important role in autoimmune disorders.
Related article: Bovine Colostrum for Autoimmune Diseases
BOVINE COLOSTRUM FOR CANCER
Cancerous cells are continuously being formed and destroyed in almost every human body. The problem comes when a weakened immune system allows for cancerous cells to spread and destroy other healthy tissues. Ironically, chemotherapy, the treatment of choice for many cancers, compromises the body’s natural immune function, leaving patients susceptible to even more infection.
The 1985 Steven Rosenberg's Book, Quiet Strides in the War on Cancer, first popularized the benefits of natural immune boosters in the treatment of cancer. Rosenberg had great success with cancer patients, including one complete cure, by using a treatment that flooded the body with killer immune cells, as well as chemical messengers called cytokines. Since Rosenberg’s time, the same cytokines found uniquely in colostrum (interleukins 1, 6, 10, Interferon G and Lymphokines) have been the single most researched elements in the search for the cure for cancer.
Colostral lactalbumin has been found to cause the selective death of cancer cells, leaving the surrounding non-cancerous tissue unaffected. The incredible mix of immune and growth factors in colostrum can inhibit the spread of cancer cells. And, if viruses are involved in either the initiation or the spread of cancer, colostrum could prove to be one of the best ways to prevent the disease in the first place.
Related article: Colostrum for Cancer: Cytokines & Lactoferrin
BOVINE COLOSTRUM FOR HEART DISEASE
Altered immunity may be the hidden cause of arteriosclerosis and cardiovascular disease. The American College of Cardiology recently reported that a common type of Chlamydia bacteria has been associated with arterial plaque formation in over 79% of patients with heart disease. Also, a recent New England Journal of Medicine article concluded that heart disease is the result of immune sensitization to cardiac antigens. In other words, once heart tissue is damaged, the immune system begins creating antibodies, which then cause more harm.
Because heart disease resembles an autoimmune response in this way, colostrum PRP can help limit the severity of the disease by toning down the immune system’s attack on damaged heart tissue. In addition, the other immune factors found in colostrum can directly combat the Chlamydia bacteria. Finally, IGF-1 and growth hormone in colostrum can lower LDL-cholesterol while increasing HDL-cholesterol concentrations. Colostrum growth factors promote the repair and regeneration of heart muscle and the regeneration of new blood vessels for collateral coronary circulation.
BOVINE COLOSTRUM FOR ALLERGIES
Allergy symptoms occur when the immune system overreacts to the presence of an allergen that’s not normally considered to be of danger to the body. Allergens include pollen, pet dander, dust as well as different types of foods that can cause allergic reactions in some people.
Proline-rich polypeptide (PRP) in colostrum is one of the main components responsible for eliminating or improving the symptoms of allergies. The PRPs inhibit the overproduction of lymphocytes and T-cells that are triggered in an allergic reaction. They also create helper T-cells and suppressor T-cells which turn off the immune response. PRPs are highly anti-inflammatory, which helps to reduce the effects of the histamine that’s been released.
Studies show that PRP has the same ability to regulate activity of the immune system as do hormones produced by the thymus gland. It can stimulate an under active system into dealing with disease causing organisms and it can also suppress an over active system that results from autoimmune disorders and allergic reactions. This is truly remarkable built in intelligence.
BodyBoost Colostrum is beneficial for human, canine and feline consumption, so if your pet suffers from allergies you can give them BodyBoost as well.
