The immune-boosting property of colostrum stems from molecules called transfer factors, which were first discovered in 1949 by Sherwood Lawrence. While treating tuberculosis patients, Lawrence noticed that immune response factors could be transferred from blood donor to recipient, hence the term "transfer factors." According to Burton Goldberg in Alternative Medicine, transfer factors "can 'educate' or modulate a recipient's immune system, teaching it to recognize these specific antigens and communicating the knowledge that they are present."

Of course, HIV and hepatitis concerns make modern blood transfer a risky method of boosting recipients' immune systems with transfer agents. In 1999, fifty years after Lawrence's discovery, researchers discussed the potential role of transfer factors in modern medicine at the Eleventh International Conference on Transfer Agents in Mexico. Bovine colostrum was a hot topic at the convention; it is the most abundant source of transfer factors known today.

Bovine colostrum is replete with transfer factors such as hydrogen peroxide and IgG-type immunoglobulins. You may already be familiar hydrogen peroxide -- the stuff the school nurse put on your skinned knees. Our healthy cells regularly produce hydrogen peroxide to attack invading pathogens; in fact, doctors in the British army who were aware of this fact used intravenous hydrogen peroxide to treat influenza in India.

Bovine colostrum's high concentration of IgG-type immunoglobulins is especially significant for people suffering from acquired immune deficiency syndrome. While a healthy immune system can easily fight a form of diarrhea called cryptosporidiosis, it can be deadly for AIDS patients. IgG-type immunoglobulins are particularly effective against Cryptosporidium parvum, the microorganism that causes this form of disease. In fact, according to the Health Science Institute's Underground Cures, "colostrum is able to ameliorate or completely eliminate the clinical symptoms of those suffering from cryptosporidiosis."

By boosting your immune system, colostrum also proves an effective anti-cancer treatment. As you may already know, cancer is related to immune deficiency. Cancer cells develop in our bodies all the time, but our immune systems effectively kill the cancer cells before they further develop and symptomatically appear as the disease we know as "cancer." The development of cancer indicates that the immune system was ineffective in fighting the malignant cells that appeared; these cells took advantage of a weakened state, grew, and spread out of control.

Boosting your immune system builds your body's defenses against naturally occurring cancer cells, thereby preventing a full-blown progression of the disease. If you already have cancer, colostrum is vital for your treatment. Its immune-boosting abilities will help your body fight off the cancer. Colostrum furthermore contains the antioxidant phytic acid, which prevents iron from reaching and nourishing cancer cells.

Transfer factors may become a valuable way to treat communicable disease in the future as researchers learn more and gain the ability to isolate specific factors. In fact, transfer factors may someday cure the diseases ravaging the world population, such as AIDS and Ebola. After the tragic 2002 Ebola outbreak in Uganda, freelance journalist Sam Wainaina explored the potential benefits of transfer factors in Africa. In his article, Wainaina concluded that had transfer factors been used during the outbreak, it could have been contained sooner, saving lives and avoiding mass hysteria.

Research for cures through transfer factors continues, but you can take advantage of the benefits of colostrum and the amazing transfer factors it contains today. If your immune system is compromised, you don't have to wait to help yourself by learning more about colostrum supplements now.