GLANDULAR EXTRACTS (PROTOMORPHOGENS): Can the organ do the job?

Eating liver is good for your liver. That makes perfect sense, because the organ meat is loaded with nutrients that your liver needs. It doesn’t necessarily follow, though, that eating a thyroid gland or taking an adrenal extract delivers anything of value to the corresponding gland in your body. Even though research offers little documented support for taking these supplements, some of them, I know, do promote and restore health, and some of them play a big role in my patient treatment strategy.

A gland’s greatest therapeutic assets are its hormones. Some evidence suggests that if properly processed, certain proteins from the glands of animals may survive the digestive process and be absorbed intact. Research into the usefulness of these protomorphogens, as they’re called, is still in its earliest stages, but thousands of practitioners have chalked up a good record of success with them.

Thymus Giandulars
The thymus gland is the organ of immunity, and as such, its output is vitally necessary to managing every patient whose immune response needs support. Yet it is rarely a part of mainstream prescribing. Even after being stripped of its hormonal content and processed into a supplement, thymus extract still retains some biological activity that can help support your own thymus. High-quality supplements (I prefer those made in Germany) have been found to augment immune function, especially against hepatitis. I’ll also prescribe them, in a daily 2 gram dose, for the entire spectrum of immune problems, including recurrent infections, yeast overgrowth, cancer and AIDS.

But two new breakthroughs promise to make thymus therapy more valuable than ever. A brand-new extraction process may improve the overall quality of glandulars and reduce their cost another factor that limits wider use. I have been using these supplements in recent years. The new extraction process is based on the live-cell therapy of Paul Niehans, MD, the renowned Swiss doctor who treated Churchill, De Gaulle and other celebrated twentieth-century figures. Niehans injected patients with an animal extract from a specific organ; those cells then migrated to the recipient’s corresponding organ, after which the organ’s function often improved. In the new extraction process, a frozen extract from animal thymus is used. After the thawed liquid is dissolved under the tongue, it is presumably absorbed intact.

The second breakthrough is based in a new procedure in which thymus cells are perpetuated by growing them on cell culture; they produce a protein called thymic protein A, which strengthens immune function. I have used it to produce some impressive changes in my patients’ T cell counts.

Adrenal Extracts
Persistent fatigue and a seemingly inexplicable lack of vitality often signals adrenal exhaustion. Stress easily drains our adrenal glands, which control blood sugar balance, mental alertness and a host of other bodily functions. Although adrenal extracts probably do not contain a significant amount of hormones, thousands of doctors attest to the dramatic turn-around in energy their patients have experienced after using the supplements. Ovarian, testicular, pituitary, thyroid and other hormonal extracts have all been used by practitioners enthused about this therapeutic strategy.

Supplement Suggestions

Because glandular therapy presents more questions than answers, don’t try to take advantage of it on your own. Proceed with the guidance of an experienced practitioner. He or she can determine the best ways to address your individual needs and can recommend high-quality extracts from organically fed animals.