Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disease that affects the body’s joints and connective tissue, causing pain, inflammation and sometimes disfiguration. In the 1970s and 1980s, an amino acid-based drug called transfer factor derived from cow’s milk was studied for its promising effects on the human immune system. While the drug appeared safe to take, positive effects on rheumatoid arthritis remission were not substantiated. Subsequent use of transfer factor by arthritis patients produced only anecdotally recognized success. If you have rheumatoid arthritis, discuss conventional and alternative therapies with your doctor.
Disease Mechanism
Unlike osteoarthritis, which is a degenerative disease from joint use and overuse, rheumatoid arthritis is an immune system disorder. The body mistakes its own tissue for a foreign invader, such as a bacterial colony, and attempts to subdue it via the inflammatory response. This results in joint pain, stiffness and general fatigue. Long-term inflammation and fluid retention can cause immobility and deformed joints. Rare inflammation of the membranes in the lungs and eyes can occur in late-stage disease.
Transfer Factor Theory
Theoretically, removing transfer factor molecules that have immunity properties from a donor and giving them to someone who lacks immunity should disrupt the course of autoimmune disease. Transfer factor from cow colostrum, or milk from late-stage pregnancy that contains certain antibodies, was used as experimental treatment for rheumatoid arthritis. Lack of scientific evidence to support a biologics license or a new drug application caused the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to warn the manufacturer against selling transfer factor for the treatment of autoimmune diseases in June 2005.
Documented Effects
Early studies of transfer factor in juvenile rheumatoid arthritis patients looked positive. But a double-blind trial reported in the 1978 “Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases” found no evidence of therapeutic value for transfer factor in clinical and laboratory testing, although it also revealed no side effects. A later study of 50 adult women published in “Mèdicine Interne” in 1985 found transfer factor effective in 20 percent of patients when combined with nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. As of 2011, these findings have not been replicated nor has transfer factor been isolated as a valid treatment for rheumatoid arthritis.
Preferred Conventional Treatment
Commercial websites carry testimonials for transfer factor, but physicians have moved on to treatments with better scientific standing. Pharmaceutical interventions still include nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, to which your doctor may add disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs, which address pain, swelling and joint degeneration. Newer medications that modify the body’s immune response include interleukin-1 receptor agonists and tumor necrosis factor inhibitors, which show good results in many patients but may cause many side effects.
