The following is an excerpt from www.healthyhepper.com ebook
IMMUNE SYSTEM POWER: Fight and Win Against the Dragon


THYMIC PROTEIN A - THYMUS EXTRACTS
What is Thymic Protein A?

It is a nutritional supplement designed to effect the same biological activity
as the protein
from the human thymus. It is made from cultured cells, not from actual thymus
glands.
The isolated and purified protein is derived from bovine thymus cells.
Bio Pro Thymic Protein A is packaged in single dose packets, each containing 12
trillion
biologically active molecules of protein in a base of maltodextrin powder.
Dr. Tery Beardsley, an immunologist, discovered and patented the way to preserve
an
intact activated protein in the same complete form as would be produced by the
human
thymus.

How does it work?

The human thymus is part of the body's endocrine and lymphatic systems. It
reaches its
maximum size at puberty and then begins to gradually shrink as we age.

It is Dr. Beardsley's belief that age related decreased immunity is due to a
lack of properly
programmed T-cells and the shrinking of the thymus gland. It is said that by age
40, the
thymus gland is drastically smaller and has very reduced function.

The thymus gland plays a very important role in cell-mediated immunity. The
thymus
gland produces proteins which "program" T-cells. T-cells (T-lymphocytes) are
made by
the bone marrow and they are white blood cells. T-cells find and kill foreign
invaders.
Without the thymic proteins produced by the thymus, the T-cells are "naive",
immature,
and they will not function.

Insufficient production of thymic proteins to program the T-cells could allow
chronic
infections and degenerative diseases to develop. If a T-4 (helper) cell is
programmed by
the proper thymic protein it can identify any invader in the bloodstream, and
secrete
proteins called interleukins and interferons which tell the T-8 (killer) cells
where to find
the invader and how to destroy it.

As explained by Dr. Beardsley, of all the cells in the immune system the t-4
helper cell is
the most important, it regulates the delicate balance of the immune system by
secreting
certain lympokines and cytokines, among them interleukin-2 and interferon, which
act as
"messengers" to tell specific cells to attack and destroy invading pathogens.

Essentially, the T-4 cells guide the "killer" cells (T-8, cytotoxic) to attack
and destroy
certain invadig cells such as viruses and cancer cells. Thymic Protein A is
designed to be
the precise thymus protein which is the key to the cell-mediated immune system
which
programs the T-4 lymphocyte (T-4 helper cell).

A relatively new product (about 5 years old), clinical research does not appear
to be
published yet. Dr. Beardsley is quoted as saying that clinical research is
"already
underway". And that a study is underway on hepatitis C.

Who else takes Thymic Protein A?

Naomi Judd! The world-famous celebrity and country singer has recovered from her
own
battle with hepatitis C. AlternativeMedicine.com, in one of their website<
articles,
describes Naomi's health regimen/protocol, "Perhaps one of the most significant
therapies
(for its effect on Naomi's liver) was thymus glandular extract from calves...
Naomi's liver
enzyme levels, which had gone up again after the interferon cycle ended, dropped
to
within the normal range after she added the thymus glandulars to her program."

The following doctors use it regularly in their practices (or for themselves):

Drs. Robert Atkins, Abram Ber, Jonathan Wright, Lee Cowden and Serafina
Corsello.

Lloyd Wright, the author of Triumph Over Hepatitis C, who has been "cured" and
now tests
negative for HCV, has tried it. However, he stresses that the "frozen thymus" is
far superior
in many ways and attributes most of his success getting rid of the virus to
"live cell frozen
thymus extract," which is available on his website, hepatitiscfree.com.


Frozen Thymus Extract


Lloyd Wright has provided a a statement from the manufacturer of the frozen
thymus
extract, which explains how it is different from Thymic Protein A : "The thymus
provided
by Author and researcher Lloyd Wright is manufactured using our state-of-the-art
extraction and ultra-filtration process to preserve the integrity of the active
thymic
molecules and peptides. The thymus extract sold by Lloyd Wright provides broad-
spectrum thymic peptides of 50,000 Daltons or less. Some thymus products have
only one
known peptide (thymic protein A). Moreover, our propritary ultra-filtration
technology is a
chemical solvent free process that eliminates unwanted compounds such as fat and
fibrous tissues typically found in powders. The live cell thymus provides the
molecules in
the most natural state possible and it is the highest quality peptide complex
available.
Kept frozen to preserve integrity of all peptides.You can read more about this
and find out
how to get it at hepatitiscfree.com.



When asked to compare Thymic Protein A with thymus extracts, Dr. Beardsley,
comments,
" Extracts of the thymus generally consist of whole thymus gland which is ground
and
dried or strained into liquid and administered in capsules or in sublingual
drops. By the
very nature of how these extracts are processed the resultant product is a
conglomeration
of thymus tissue, cell debris, fragments of thymus proteins and thymus
by-products.
These extracts are only slightly effective because they are mere fragments. To
attain full
effectiveness a protein must have a specific shape with extract transmitter and
receptor
sites."


Bovine Thymus Extracts

The Encyclopedia of Natural Medicine, lists thymus extracts as a treatment for
hepatitis C.
It states that there is good clinical data to support the effectiveness of
orally administered
bovine thymus extracts in treating acute and chronic viral hepatitis. It
reports, " The
effectiveness of the thymus extract in treating viral hepatitis is reflective of
broad-
spectrum immune-system enhancement, presumably mediated by improved thymus gland
activity."

Summary

Dr. Julian Whitaker's Health & Healing Newsletter summarizes,
"What the single thymic protein that has been isolated by Dr. Beardsley does is
take over
the work that your thymus used to perform - it stimulates the immune system by
programming T-4 lymphocytes, increasing both their numbers and activity. Since
the
primary function of Thymic Protein A is to program T-4 cells, it is interesting
to consider
the importance of T-4 cells as described by hepatitis C expert Matthew Dolan in
The
Hepatitis C Handbook, "It is the behavior of these cells (T helper cells/CD4)
that are
thought to be the primary indicator of who is likely to clear the virus upon
infection and
who is not.

Researchers have shown that a strong and multispecific CD4+lymphocyte response
to HCV
proteins is only present in HCV infected patients who successfully clear the
virus..."

The question is does Bio Pro activate a T-cell response to HCV proteins?

If cell-mediated immunity and the T-cell initiated immune response is important
to the
management or even elimination of HCV (as the most current research reported in
Matthew Dolan's book seems to suggest) and if Thymic Protein A truly stimulates
these
aspects of the immune system, it would appear to be an attractive product to
use.

Matthew Dolan classifies thymic extracts as an alternative therapy, " It is a
branch of cell
therapy, a treatment approach that is popular for cancer in Germany and involves
the
injection of live cells from (calf) thymus. The general idea is to reinvigorate
the immune
system. There is no accurate reports on its efficacy for hepatitis C yet."

Method of Use

The extract should be slowly dissolved under the tongue (where is is absorbed
directly
into the bloodstream), as stomach acids will destroy fragile structure of the
protein,
according to John Anderson, author of the article Resetting The Immune System's
Thermostat With Thymus Protein on AlternativeMedicine.com.


MAD COW DISEASE & THYMUS SUPPLEMENTS


Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) is a fatal brain disease of cattle. The
disease is
believed to be caused by a "self-replicating" protein (a prion) rather than a
bacterium or
virus. Meat and milk have not been shown to carry the infective agent and
measures have
been taken to exclude those parts shown to carry the infective agent (primarily
brain and
nervous tissue) from the food supply.


According to an article by Amy Norton entitled "Herbal supplements Can Contain
Animal
Parts" (Source: Reuters Health, July 26, 2000), thymus products may contain "raw
animal
parts". Some people are of the persuasion that there is a theoretic possibility
of a risk of
transmitting "mad cow" disease by consuming thymus products.


Dr. Scott A. Norton, in an interview with Reuters Health, stated, "I would
advise all of my
patients not to take supplements that contain central nervous system tissue from
animals." The reference to this article comes from HEPCBC.org and it states that
the article
warned readers that not all supplements list their full ingredients, or some
people may not
realize that the word "hypothalamus" means brain tissue, and "orchis" means bull
testicles.
It says that regulatory institutions have little or no power over dietary and
herbal
supplements.


My opinion is that we should investigate our thymus products mindfully, but that
we
shouldn't jump to irrational and paranoid conclusions. I asked Lloyd Wright
about this
issue and here's what he had to say:


"There is no evidence of mad cow disease on the north American continent. I hope
they
keep it this way. 1. The thymus is thymus, live cell, no central nervous system
in it. 2.
Again, Natcell thymus is Thymus, nothing else."


"There are approximately 2000 boxes of natcell thymus sold a week in the US and
a whole
lot more world wide. It is safe. The Natcell thymus is taken from live calves.
Most thymus
products are made from dead cows. There is a huge difference."