Medicine in ancient Rome mother's milk (or colostrum) is actually a rather effective treatment. Colostrum has been shown to prevent the growth of "Staphylococcus" bacteria, which are a known cause of several types of infection. Colostrum is about half as effective as some antibiotics prescribed to patients today. Colostrum is also effective against the bacterium chlamydia; this is the cause of a sexually transmitted disease and also can cause severe sight impairment, if not blindness. Thus, colostrum was a rather effective treatment in the ancient world – perhaps that is why it was viewed as a divine treatment. The interpretation of dreams was another
Colostrum factors through multiple pathways including nutritional support, immunological intervention (through its immunoglobulin and other anti-microbial factors) and growth/healing factor constituents. As pointed out by Kelly, inconsistency between results in some published studies may be due in part to variation in dose given and to the timing of the colostrum collection being tested (first milking versus pooled colostrum collected up to day 5 following calving). Some athletes have used colostrum in an attempt to improve their performance, decrease recovery time, and prevent sickness during peak performance levels. Supplementation with bovine colostrum, 20 grams per day (g/d), in combination with exercise training