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THYMUS GLANDULAR
Articles by a Naturopathic
Doctor ( N.D.)
The thymus trains your immune system from birth...
What is it?
The thymus is a specialized immune system organ of childhood that begins to atrophy at puberty, and eventually almost disappears in adulthood. It is located beneath the breastbone in the centre of the chest, and is responsible for the development of a subclass of immune cells known as T-cells. These T-cells are responsible for a significant amount of our antiviral immune responses, as well as those associated with combating cancer (Natural Killer T cells). It is this role in the immune system that led thymus to be made into a glandular extract to potentially support immune health. |
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THYMUS GLANDULAR |
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| Your Thymus is a specialized immune system organ of childhood. |
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Thymus Deficiency
There is no condition caused by insufficient thymus. In fact, the thymus gland performs its function of prepping our T-cell immune base to completion during childhood. Function slows in puberty and by adulthood, the thymus has been mostly replaced by fat cells. There is no evidence of the thymus performing any function after puberty. Interestingly, children who have their thymus removed prior to puberty grow up to become adults that go through premature immune system aging, resulting in more opportunistic infections at an earlier old-age. It is suggested that their thymus did not complete its immune training prior to removal. This is the closest to deficiency that has ever been reported.
Thymus Glandular
It is theorized that supplementing with thymus glandular extracted from bovine (cow), porcine (pig), or ovine (sheep) sources can help to supplement the immune system. There is very little evidence available from research, which may be due to the research limitations shared by all glandular extracts (click here for more details). Also, the fact that the thymus does not play a large role in the adult immune system leaves this supplementation less supported.
How do I take Thymus Glandular?
Generally speaking thymus glandular is found in combination products with other glandular extracts in small doses. There is no generally accepted dose, and each label's suggested dosing recommendations should be followed unless otherwise recommended by a healthcare professional.
Important Information
There is little supportive evidence for the use of thymus glandular to help promote immune health. The thymus plays the largest role in immune health during childhood, but safety testing has not been performed on supplementation in children. |
Thymus Glandular - QUICK FACTS |
SOURCES |
· Animal thymus gland (bovine, porcine or ovine) |
DEFICIENCY SYMPTOMS |
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None in adulthood |
WORKS WELL WITH |
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Other immune support vitamins and herbs, and other glandulars |
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· There is very little research available on the use of thymus glandular and little evidence to promote its use in adults for immune health |
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