Peptide Therapy: Thymosin and BPC-157

Honestly, if you Google ‘peptide therapy’, you’ll get overwhelmed by TMI (‘too much information’). Then you might be put off by claims that sound terrific (“Burn fat! Combat mental decline!” “Heal wounds! Reverse aging!”) but then make you feel, well, skeptical.

Let’s face it, we’d all like ‘enhanced fat burning,’ ‘better wound healing’, ‘smoother skin’, ‘better blood pressure’, ‘sexual energy’, ‘slowed aging’, ‘reversed bone loss’. We’d like a step up when fighting any chronic diseases.

In fact, maybe during your recent visit with a WholeHealth Chicago practitioner, it’s been suggested that you consider a course of peptide therapy.

You listened carefully and maybe thought, “I’ve been feeling tired and achy for such a long time….” and decided that maybe there was something to learn.

Despite sounding almost too remarkable to be true, there is a logic to peptide therapy. Just about seventy peptides are already FDA approved for treating illness. Now consider the most famous peptide of them all: insulin, discovered exactly one hundred years ago and responsible for saving the lives of tens of millions of diabetics around the world. Less well known are calcitonin (for osteoporosis), adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) for adrenal disease, and growth hormone (for short stature kids).

To understand exactly what peptides are, think about a ‘protein’. We all need ‘protein’, one of the Big Three in our diet: proteins, fats, carbohydrates. Every protein is an immensely long string of amino acids, hundreds, sometimes thousands, and termed the “building blocks” of protein. Individually each of the twenty amino acids is a relatively small molecule.

A peptide is simply one part of a more complex protein. Instead of hundreds of amino acids, a peptide can be extracted or synthesized from two or three dozen. Insulin was first extracted from the pancreas of a pig. Nowadays, it is synthesized.

Thymosin Alpha-1 Peptide

One of the most useful peptides, Thymosin alpha-1, was originally extracted from the thymus gland. The source of our body’s T-cell immune system. Thymosin alpha-1 is now prescribed worldwide for a variety of conditions involving immune support (long COVID, chronic Lyme, chronic mono, chronic fatigue syndrome, and a host of viral, bacterial, parasitical/fungal/candida infections and even cancer).

BPC-157 Peptide

A second very interesting peptide, again frequently recommended by our staff, is BPC-157, the BPC initials for Body Protection Compound. This peptide, made of only 15 linked amino acids, was originally derived from stomach tissue. What’s astonishing about BPC-157 is that once administered into the body it starts “repairing” damages like torn muscles, tendons, and wounds, reducing inflammation throughout your body, and reducing pain. Because of BPC-157’s original gastric source, the oral version (as a mouth spray) is being used for GERD, stomach ulcers, Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis and leaky gut.

Like insulin, virtually all peptides are injected into the skin using a very tiny needle. Your peptide is shipped to your local WholeHealth Chicago office where you’ll be instructed about self administration and given a generous supply of syringes to take home with you. Keep in mind, you can’t swallow most peptides as capsules and expect results. Your stomach acid will destroy the peptide on contact and you’ll just absorb the component amino acids.

Actually, you may have already used peptides without knowing it. Biologically active peptides are a common ingredient in anti-aging skin creams. Applied to your skin and absorbed, the peptides send signals to repair tissue breakdown and tighten collagen, smoothing your wrinkles.

There are currently about seventy peptides that have received FDA approval for human use. Next week, I’ll talk about a very popular peptide called semaglutide, since you’ve been seeing TV commercials for the semaglutide peptide variants Ozempic, Trulicity, and Mounjaro for weight loss, only to discover your insurance company balks at paying for them because of price.

The peptide pharmacy compounders do have generic semaglutide injections available at significant cost savings. (“How can they do that?”, you sensibly ask. Answer: “Even Big Pharma can’t patent natural substances from the human body like thyroid or estrogen or testosterone or any of the peptides.”)

So, if you’re dealing with any chronic symptom or condition and think you might make some progress with peptide therapy, call any of the practitioners at WholeHealth Chicago and have a serious talk.

Be well,
David Edelberg, MD