I read about colloidal silver last year and was concerned that it was some kind of quackery. Now as we enter a new century with resistant bacteria on the rise, obtaining antibiotics possibly in serious jeopardy and numerous viruses that can kill you or make you wish you were dead, I'm having second thoughts. I need to know more about colloidal silver.

-- Sylvia (bluebirdms@aol.com), August 28, 1999

Answers

You wouldn't want to wrestle in the stuff, that much I know....

-- King of Spain (madrid@aol.com), August 28, 1999.

Check out this link:

http://www.silversolutions.com/x101.html

They tell you how to make your own, and lay out priciples of use and applications. I went off to the natural-foods store this morning and bought 2 bottles of colloidal silver *tincture* (much smaller dosage required than other forms).

Haven't tried it yet, but a friend swears it cleared up her sinus infection when antibiotics wouldn't. I'm worried about having a good meds stash, too.

-- PH (ag3@interlog.com), August 28, 1999.

I have tried it, and had no ill effects. One of our friends who is an RN says it really works on strep infections.

If you run a search on usenet, you should find quite a bit of information. There are some detractors, but most people who have tried it seem to have had positive results. I corresponded with a woman from Milwaukee who said that it was the only treatment for her Lymes disease which had any effect.

From some earlier posts, it sounds like uncle sugar is going to try to outlaw it.

gene

-- gene (ekbaker@essex1.com), August 28, 1999.

After carefully studying the data, and talking to my broker, I have decided that I am going to go with colloidal gold instead.

-- a (a@a.a), August 28, 1999.

There are no con's to colloidal silver, from what I can tell. It's worked on most everything I've tried it on (I make it myself, about 15 cents for 8 ounces), including an infected wound on one of my cats, some kind of fungus infestation on some plants, in addition to various abrasions and other stuff on skin.

I've also tried it internally (and as a sinus spray) but I can't vouch for it's efficacy when used that way (I use other methods to get rid of internal infections).

-- Dean -- from (almost) Duh Moines (dtmiller@nevia.net), August 28, 1999.

I also make my own C.S. I have used it on a daily basis for over 5 months. I have had no ill effects from it. I have not been sick once in the last 5 months although my family has. Of course they don't use it. Ask someone over the age of 70 if silver has a theraputic effect. You'll see that silver was used by our grandparents.

-- no spam (nospam@spam.com), August 29, 1999.

Sylvia,

If you will go to the Health archive (at the bottom of the New Answers page) and use your Find button to look for "silver," you'll find 6 or 8 threads on this subject, indluding how to contact Rosemary Jacobs, the argyria victim whose case was published in a reputable medical journal earlier this year.I have corresponded with Ms. Jacobs and have decided this heavy metal is something I don't want to add to my body. I know that CS users are extremely enthusiastic about it's efficacy and that's great; I'm glad they're comfortable with it. There may come a time when I'm comfortable with it too, but that time is not now.

-- Old Git (anon@spamproblems.com), August 29, 1999.

I've been ingesting over 2 mg. per day of colloidal silver (my recent prep is completely clear and has an indefinite shelf-life) off and on (mostly on) for almost 2 years with no ill effects.

The only thing that occurs is that you don't get sick and it clears up topical infections as well. If you need more info drop me a note. I've written a research report which quantifies, for the first time, colloidal silver retention in humans.

Don't listen to the debunkers. They have practically NO first hand knowledge, and are relying on incomplete, unsubstantiated old news. If the colloidal silver is prepared properly, I believe it is safe to use, has virtually no side effects, and is VERY effective against a wide range of infection.

Roger Altman

-- Dr. Roger Altman (rogaltman@aol.com), August 29, 1999.

Roger,

If you get a chance, would you take a look at this thread regarding CS on the TB2000 preps forum?

http://www.greenspun.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg.tcl?msg_id=001J Nr

-- RUOK (RUOK@yesiam.com), August 29, 1999.

Yes, I've read the thread, and agree completely. Physician, Bill Schenker is now posting on there. He is quite knowledgeable about colloidal silver. In fact, I used his recommendations in formulating my own research. Remember, proper preparation is very important. For example, I'm not convinced that colloidal silver prepared from a low voltage DC setup is effective or safe.

Roger

-- Dr. Roger Altman (rogaltman@aol.com), August 29, 1999.

We have been making our own, & plan to keep plenty distilled water on hand. Is Rosemary the only argyria victim? I have not heard of others. How much was she taking? I don't take it daily, but it sure does get rid of a sore throat, & my daughters face is perfectly clear of any blemishes since using as a topical solution. Also, my psoriasis has shown great improvement. With the risk of influenza & any air borne disease, we will keep it readily available for our family, & friends. I had bought several bottles, & then purchased the generator to make our own. We keep it in dark bottles, on the pantry shelf with our other preps. Carol Ann

-- Carol Ann (JCclass69@aol.com), August 29, 1999.

I have read that if a drug company such as Bayer tried to put *aspirin* on the market today it would be treated as a prescription drug, because of its danger to human health. Children can be seriously injured by it. Adults can burn holes in their stomach and intestinal tracts from overuse, etc, etc. That Rosemary story is a Red Herring and has absolutely nothing to do with current production and use of colloidal silver. I notice that when it is referred to it is used as a stand-alone case, to discourage further inquiry. The poster never balances that with positive reports from people who have used this substance for years and received tremendous benefits and no bodily damage. Go Figure.

-- Gordon (gpconnolly@aol.com), August 30, 1999.

Silver nitrate solution was used (still used?) for many years to put in infant's eyes right after birth, to prevent the kid from going blind if mother had the clap or something.

So, colloidal silver might be worth looking into.

You can make your own using info from Wayne Green
http://www.waynegreen.com/

-- A (A@AisA.com), August 30, 1999.

Dr Altman: If low voltage systems are not the right way, then what would you suggest for people to make their own. I know it is TOO expensive to buy in health food stores.

-- jeanne (jeanne@hurry.now), August 30, 1999.

Jeanne:

The reason that I would not recommend using low dc voltage colloidal silver is because the potency can vary widely from lot to lot and large silver particles drop out over time. In addition, you produce a lot of silver gunk during production which has to be CAREFULLY filter off before ingesting. I've noticed, for example that even the colloidal silver I've produced at 180 volts DC sometimes has a silvery patina on the water surface indicating metallic silver contamination that WAS NOT removed by filtration, or formed later. So there are many ways you can be exposed to non-colloidal silver. Does anyone know the long term effects exposure to these particles has on the body? I don't.

My recommendation is to either be very careful to remove any sign of metallic silver from low voltage preps, or use a high voltage variety which has been shown to be completely stabile over many months or years. Email me if you want more info.

Roger

-- Dr. Roger Altman (rogaltman@aol.com), August 31, 1999.

Dr. Altman: What is the difference between "metallic" silver and colloidal, other than particle size? IF you are asserting a difference, then the "colloidal" silver would actually be something else -- a compound (silver plus something -- a silver salt).

Colloidal, as far as I know, merely means that something is so small that it maintains an even suspension in its medium medium. This is not the same as "dissolved," BTW.

Homogenized milk is milk with the cream broken up in such small particles, that it remains evenly suspended, instead of separating out and rising to the top as in unhomogenized milk. The cream is a colloid in homogenized milk.

Comments, applicable to silver?

-- A (A@AisA.com), September 01, 1999.

"Dr. Altman: What is the difference between "metallic" silver and colloidal, other than particle size?"

Exactly the point. "Metallic silver" -- for want of a better term -- has separated out from suspension. I don't like the idea of ingesting this stuff. How can those who prepare the low voltage variety BE SURE that thay are not exposed to it? Certainly in the pinch, go ahead and drink your low voltage home brew, but long term prophyllactic use (which offers the ONLY workable protection post millennium) -- no way.

Roger

-- Dr. Roger Altman (rogaltman@aol.com), September 01, 1999.

Roger:
OK, that clarifies that, now my next question: what is it about particle size (real small and stays in suspension vs. somewhat larger and precipitates out) that the body cares about?

-- A (A@AisA.com), September 01, 1999.

The mechanism of how colloidal silver particles work is still in the conjecture stage. Some say it acts solely as a catalyst because its positive charge lowers the activation energy for reactions that interfere with the metabolism of a particular enzyme utilized by all pathogens.

Frankly, don't know how colloidal silver works. What I DO know is this: HVAC is capable of making colloidal silver of sufficiently small particle size (in the 500-1000 angstrom range) to MAINTAIN particle charge, thus preventing agglomeration and separation of the suspension. HVDC and LVDC cannot do this, and therefore there is always the risk of drinking at least some metallic silver (vs. colloidal silver which, I believe, is harmless because its extremely small particle size allows it to passs THROUGH tissue so that it can be eliminated in urine).

Hope this explanation helps.

Roger

-- Dr. Roger Altman (rogaltman@aol.com), September 01, 1999.

Colloidal Silver: Risk Without Benefit

Stephen Barrett, M.D.

Colloidal silver is a suspension of submicroscopic metallic silver particles in a colloidal base. Long-term use of silver preparations can lead to argyria, a condition in which silver salts deposit in the skin, eyes, and internal organs, and the skin turns ashen-gray. Many cases of argyria occurred during the pre-antibiotic era when silver was a common ingredient in nosedrops. When the cause became apparent, doctors stopped recommending their use, and reputable manufacturers stopped producing them. The official drug guidebooks (United States Pharmacopeia and National Formulary) have not listed colloidal silver products since 1975.

Dubious Ads

In recent years, silver-containing products have been marketed with unsubstantiated claims that they are effective against AIDS, cancer, infectious diseases, parasites, chronic fatigue, acne, warts, hemorrhoids, enlarged prostate, and many other diseases and conditions. Some marketers claim that colloidal silver is effective against hundreds of diseases.

During 1998, a Florida-based multilevel company, stated:

Our colloidal silver contains 99.99% pure silver particles suspended indefinitely in demineralized water that kills bacteria and viruses. It can be applied topically and/or absorbed into the blood stream sub-lingually (under the tongue), thereby avoiding the negative effects of traditional antibiotics that kill good bacteria in the lower digestive tract.

An all natural antibiotic alternative in the purest form available. The presence of colloidal silver near a virus, fungi, bacterium or any other single celled pathogen disables its oxygen-metabolism enzyme, its chemical lung, so to say. The pathogens suffocates and dies, and is cleared out of the body by the immune, lymphatic and elimination systems.

Unlike pharmaceutical antibiotics which destroy beneficial enzymes, colloidal silver leaves these beneficial enzymes intact. Thus colloidal silver is absolutely safe for humans, reptiles, plants and all multi-celled living matter.

It is impossible for single-celled germs to mutate into silver-resistant forms, as happens with conventional antibiotics. Also, colloidal silver cannot interact or interfere with other medicines being taken. Colloidal silver is truly a safe, natural remedy for many of mankind's ills. Colloidal silver can be taken indefinitely because the body does not develop a tolerance to it [1]

Seasilver Intermational, a California-based multilevel company, claims that American are suffering from "silver deficiency." Although silver is not an essential nutrient, product information posted on the company's Web site states:

The depletion of minerals in our soil has left us deficient of silver, one of our most essential trace minerals, causing a drastic increase in immune system disorders in our society in the last decade. Research has taught us that all disease is allowed to manifest itself because of a weakened immune system. In over 20 years of worldwide research on Colloidal Silver, numerous interviews with government agencies, health care practitioners and their patients, no other nutrient, herb or drug (prescription or over-the-counter) is as safe and effective against all known forms of unfriendly virus, bacteria, and fungus. Additionally, while it is generally known that most antibiotics kill only perhaps 6 or 7 different disease organisms, reports have shown that Colloidal Silver has been used successfully in the treatment of over 650 diseases! Furthermore, strains of disease organisms fail to develop in the presence of Colloidal Silver. Colloidal Silver's greatest attribute is its unique ability to function as a superior second immune system in the body! [2]

The ad below is from the July 1996 issue of Alternative Medicine Digest.

(picture oif ad)

Critical Studies

In 1995, an herbal distributor named Leslie Taylor tested nine commonly marketed colloidal silver products available at health-food stores and concluded:

Two of the products were contaminated with microorganisms. The amount of silver suspended in solution varied from product to product and would gradually decrease over time. Only five products actually showed antibacterial activity in a laboratory test. To perform the test, she prepared a culture plate with Staphylococcus aureas bacteria, which can cause infections in humans. She then placed a drop from each product on the plate and used disks of two common antibiotics as controls. After eight hours of incubation, she found that bacterial growth had been inhibited around the antibiotics and four of the products.

Of course, the fact that a product inhibits bacteria in a laboratory culture doesn't mean it is effective (or safe) in the human body. In fact, products that kill bacteria in the laboratory would be more likely to cause argyria because they contain more silver ions that are free to deposit in the user's skin. .

FDA laboratory studies have found that the amount of silver in some product samples has varied from 15.2% to 124% of the amount listed on the product labels. The amount of silver required to produce argyria is unknown. However, the FDA has concluded that the risk of using silver products exceeds any unsubstantiated benefit [3].

In October 1996, the FDA proposed to ban the use of colloidal silver or silver salts in over-the-counter products [4]. A Final Rule banning such use was issued on August 17, 1999. The rule applies to any nonprescription colloidal silver or silver salt product claimed to be effective in preventing or treating any disease [5]. Silver products can still be sold as "dietary supplements" provided that no health claims are made for them.

References

1. The company (Changes International) is no longer in the supplement business. 2. Seasilver International Product Information, accessed October 12, 1998. 3. Fung MC, Bowen DL. Silver products for medical indications: risk-benefit assessment. Journal of Toxicology and Clinical Toxicology 34:119-26, 1996. 4. Federal Register 61:53685-53688, 1996. (To access this document, search the 1996 volume for "colloidal silver." 5. FDA. Final rule: Over-the-counter drug products containing colloidal silver ingredients or silver salts. Federal Register 64:44653-44658, 1999. Download PDF version

For Further Information

Rosemary Jacobs, an argyria victim, has made a detailed study of the colloidal silver marketplace and is willing to answer questions.

Quackwatch Home Page

This article was updated on August 18, 1999.

There are links at the site.

http://www.quackwatch.com/01QuackeryRelatedTopics/PhonyAds/silverad.ht ml

-- searching (stuff@the.net), September 01, 1999.

Thanks both: But I still don't know what difference, if any, particle size makes. Like whether the argyria is caused by silver particles of all sizes or just some sizes. Like whether "size really matters" as to as antibacterial properties. Interesting that the article quoted mentioned that "Only five products actually showed antibacterial activity in a laboratory test..." but didn't discuss what the difference was between the five that did and the others that didn't. I would think that would be a point of interest for the researcher and /or article writer.

Again, thanks. And I think I'll pass.

BTW, ChangesInternational is still in the MLM business (now a TwinLab division) and still selling colloidal silver.

-- A (A@AisA.com), September 01, 1999.

Dr. Barrett concluded:

"Of course, the fact that a product inhibits bacteria in a laboratory culture doesn't mean it is effective (or safe) in the human body. In fact, products that kill bacteria in the laboratory would be more likely to cause argyria because they contain more silver ions that are free to deposit in the user's skin."

Lumping all colloidal silver products together, and indeed, including silver salts as well, in your statements (the quote above is but one example) is a gross oversimplification and unscientific. My research, for example, indicates that prophyllactic use of properly prepared colloidal silver results in it being excreted by the body about as quickly as it is ingested.

Dr. Barrett, in the future please present your evidence to back up your claims that colloidal silver causes argyria. Please provide us with the details of the research papers which support your conclusions.

Blanket statements are not helpful particularly when they result in scaring people away from learning as much as they can about protecting themselves post-millennium when antibiotics will be difficult, or even impossible to obtain. What are your recommendations under these circumstances doctor? And if you dismiss this scenario as unlikely, well then, I would be grateful if you would provide evidence to back up this claim too.

-- Dr. Roger Altman (rogaltman@aol.com), September 02, 1999.

"Thanks both: But I still don't know what difference, if any, particle size makes. Like whether the argyria is caused by silver particles of all sizes or just some sizes. Like whether "size really matters" as to as antibacterial properties."

Size matters. If silver particles are large enough they could be absorbed by body tissue causing undesirable side effects such as argyria. Colloidal silver particles are so small that they pass through tissue and eventually are eliminated by the body in feces and urine.

There are two mechanisms that operate to eliminate colloidal silver from the body. The evidence for both mechanisms is presented in my research report. Drop me an email if you would like more information, including you Dr. Barrett, that is, if you are open minded enough to learn something NEW (as opposed to regurgitating the same 70 year old propaganda) about colloidal silver.

-- Dr. Roger Altman (rogaltman@aol.com), September 02, 1999.

Please note that Rosemary Jacobs was not taking Colliodal silver!!! She Was taking silver drops of unknown substance....This seems to be a women who wants to stop anyone from taking any form of silver. Her knowledge on true colliodal silver seems to be influnced from her bad exprience with silver drops her doctor gave to her and they were not colliodal.Silver chloride ,silver salts ect can be damaging.it doesn't take a rocket scientist to realize that different forms of anything are not the same.Water alone could be unsafe if it has something toxic in it.....but that doesn't mean that all water is unsafe

-- JF (chemtrailwatcher@aol.com), December 01, 1999.