The side effects of Humira are TB and cancer.TNF alpha has many "benefits"...yes, I know...ouch, but don't BLOCK it.
From my Updated Nutshell post:
Benefits of TNF alpha:
1. ``as more people are treated with TNF inhibitors over longer periods of time, tumor risk may become more pronounced.''
(May protect us from tumors.)
www.Hopkins-arthritis.som.jhmi.edu/edu/acr2003/ra-treatments.html
2. ``TNF-alpha is potentially an important mediator of protein wasting in chronically uremic patients.''
www.dscmt.univ.trieste.it/text/curriculum/containerbiblio.htm
3. ``one mechanism of action of TNF-alpha ...on thyroid FRTL-5 cells is to inhibit calcium entry.''
PMID: 10092616
4. ``is actually a potent modulator of neurotransmitter interaction.''
hdlighthouse.org/see/immune/tnf.htm
5. ``the body does use tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) to acutely fight infections. If patients
are showing any sign of infectious disease, drugs such as Enbrel (that inhibit the effects of TNF-alpha) are temporarily discontinued.''
www.lef.org/protocols/prtcl-128a.shtml
6. ``After noticing that exposure to the naturally occurring compound TNF-alpha (Tumor Necrosis
Factor-alpha) killed malfunctioning immune cells...''
www.diabetesincontrol.com/issue166/item1.shtml
7. ``generally the level of TNF increases with aging. Lactic acid and unsaturated fats and hypoxia
stimulate increased formation of TNF. Estrogen increases production of nitric oxide systemically, and nitric oxide can stimulate TNF formation. When oxygen and the correct nutrients are available, the hypermetabolism produced by TNF could be reparative (K. Fukushima, et al., 1999), rather than destructive.''
http://www.ferlowbrothers.com/estrogen_osteoporosis.htm
(Original website would not link. Above website says the same.)
8. ``TNF-a is a molecule responsible for activating and proliferating cells of the immune system as
well as protecting the body from abnormal cell growth.''
(same source as #7)
9. ``Activity of TNF-a is associated with inflammation, cytotoxicity (destruction of abnormal cells)
antiviral activity, and the proliferation of immune cells.''
(same source as #7)
10. ``modulate cell proliferation and cellular calcium homeostasis.''
http://www.cell-research.com/991/991-syf1.html
(If you go to the above website, please note the mention of spingolipid metabolites and keep this in mind: syhingomyelinase is Mg dependent)
PMID: 9195931
11. ``the level of TNF-alpha directly or indirectly regulates the production of borreliacidal antibody''
PMID: 12522038
12. ``The increased bone resorption may be due to an increase in TNF-alpha''
PMID: 14704297
13. ``no detrimental effects on normal neurons and can protect neurons when present in neuronal cultures during in vitro ischaemia...Once TNF's removed, neuroprotection is lost.''
www.anri.uwa.edu.au/teams/teamcvdl/cvdl.htm
14. ``TNF- a also causes production of sphingosine which can directly block the release of calcium
from the sarcoplasmic reticulum and therefore depress cardiac contraction.''
www.saem.org/download/01kline.pdf
15. ``suppression of insulin action in the liver resulting from TNF-alpha mediated suppression of
tyrosine phosphorylation''
Gastroenterology 2004; 126: 840-848,917-919
(Keep in mind insulin ACTIVATES PFK which Bb is dependent on.)
16. ``Total elimination of the TNF-a cytokine apparently creates a less hostile immune environment...Although `Chronic-lyme' is a lympopenic disease, chronic lyme patients do not usually form sarcoid granuloma. Borrelia burgdorferi appears to be a pathogen with insufficient lympopenic activity to proliferate sarcoid granulomas on its own. However, together with other pathogens, it is frequently found as a component of sarcoid inflammation.''
www.joimr.org/phorum/read.php?f=2&I=38&t=38
17. ``the level of TNF-alpha directly or indirectly regulates the production of borreliacidal antibody''
PMID: 12522038
18. ``Polymerase chain reaction analysis indicated a protection rate of 95% in mice receiving tumor
necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha.''
PMID: 8537658
19. These results are in line with previous experiments using cells of the adaptive immune response, indicating that strong T helper type 1 (Th1) proinflammatory responses might be associated with a
successful resolution
of Lyme disease.
PMID: 15958074