07-17-2002

Dale Guyer, M.D., is a holistic family physician and the Director of The Advanced Medical Center located in Zionsville, Indiana, where patients are offered a unique blend of traditional and alternative therapies (incorporating a mind-body-spirit approach) for a number of health-related issues, including CFS and FM.

Question: What are the most effective treatments you have found for supporting and strengthening the immune system?

Dr. Guyer's Response: After the evaluation from a laboratory analysis I can determine what areas of weakness or imbalance lie within the immune system, and an appropriate treatment regimen is then detailed. In a general sense, almost all the patients have found excellent results with the transfer factor specifically. Generally I tend to use the transfer factor Basic product and then tailor the dose according to the patient’s needs.

Two or three capsules a day [of transfer factor] has been standard treatment for most of my patients, but also those with rather profound immune dysfunction syndromes are those prone to periodic or cyclic viral symptom expression. I will often need to increase the dose to a much higher level, often three to four capsules three to four times a day as needed. In terms of removing offending infections, the more effective therapies I have seen beyond the antibiotic protocols as required for bacterial infections are the so-called oxidation treatments, which include blood ozone therapy, UVB or photoluminescence, and intravenous hydrogen peroxide. In addition, using specific immune strengthening botanicals I have found are of benefit, too. Sometimes prescription medicines, such as Tagamet and/or the opiate-blocking drug, naltrexone, are a useful adjunctive therapy in the treatment of cancer.

Question: What might a comprehensive treatment program include for a patient whose main symptoms are those typical of chronic fatigue syndrome?

Dr. Guyer's Response: In a general sense that would depend, of course, on the laboratory analysis though the physician, myself in this case, would know specifically what types of problems we are dealing with. All of these patients that I have seen always have immune dysfunction, and so products such as transfer factor are generally very helpful. In addition, most are nutritionally depleted, so we often utilize intravenous vitamin therapies for replacement, adjunctively adding in Vitamin B12 shots of which we use a special formulation with high dose Hydroxycobalamin that includes ATP and Glutathione to help with the body’s energy reserves.

Question: How do you use transfer factor to treat a patient and what kinds of patients benefit most from this treatment?

Dr. Guyer's Response: In a general sense all of my patients with CFS and FM take transfer factor. I have found it selectively useful for just about every broad category of human health in addition to those who are generally healthy. I myself take the supplement every day, and at times when I feel tired and rundown or have had a viral exposure and start to feel flu-like symptoms, I will take fairly generous doses and often the symptoms will resolve within a matter of hours.

I have even found that using transfer factor in cases of autoimmune dysfunction tends to bring about a stability of the immune system “cross talk” and reestablishment of the immune system balance. So in a general sense, I have felt that almost everybody seems to benefit from transfer factor in one way or another, specifically those with CFS and especially in those that have a co-existing chronic infection. The transfer factor tends to help support their immunologic clearance of the offending agent.