Colloidal silver as an alternative treatment for cancer and many other diseases has been debated for several decades. Although the conventional medicine does not recognize these claims, someconsider it as a potent antibiotic and a miracle cure for many medical conditions: cancer,CRE’s, Ebola, HIV/AIDS, Infections (bacterial infection, viral infection), Influenza, Colds, Lyme disease, and others. And It can even kill antibiotic resistant “super germs” (MRSA.), some researchers claim. The medical elite in the other hand, label colloidal silver as being toxic and reject its effectiveness in curing any of these conditions…
The big question now, is colloidal silver toxic to your body or a safe alternative cancer treatment? Before answering this question, it is important to know the nature and history of the so-called miracle cure.
What iscolloidal silver?
Colloidal silver is a nanoproduct composed of silver atoms produced in the form of nanoparticles using nanotechnology. It is easy to make it at home using inexpensive equipment, and can be taken internally or used externally on wounds, burns, and the list goes on. Every year, according to estimation of the producers, about 700 t / year of colloidal silver are produced worldwide, as silver ions, silver protein and colloids to be used as biocide. This is just an estimation based on commercial production. Some people prefer to make their own colloidal silver, using a home-made colloidal silver generator.
At nanoscale, colloidal silver has special properties which can deter, render harmless, or exert a controlling effect on certain harmful organisms. It is important, however, to know that colloidal silver was not developed as an alternative cancer treatment.
History of colloidal silver
Unlike what most people think, the use of silver and colloidal silver in medicine is not new. It’s not a new “miracle cure” discovered by a modern researcher that “the government does not want the public to know about”. Hippocrates himself, considered as the “father of medicine”, advocatedin his “Corpus Hippocraticus” the use of flower silver (silver powder) on injury to facilitate better or faster healing.
Many examples show that the use of silver was very common in traditional medicine for thetreatment of wounds, burns, infections, and others. In Macedonia, for example, people appliedsilver plate to promote wound healing; Arab physicians of the Middle Ages used silver to reducepalpitation or fluid retention. In addition, Pliny, Avicenna, Paracelsus and Gerber also describe the health benefits of silver. Colloidal silver as an alternative cancer treatment is just modern.
This is in the eighteenth century that the use of silver in medicine became popular and normalized. It was then commonly used in the treatment of skin conditions. In the nineteenth century, however, as more and more studies have conducted on it, colloidal silver would identifyto be beneficial in more than 60 Pharmaceuticals preparations.
The turning point in the use of colloidal silver
Nevertheless, as time goes by, less and less people became interested in using colloidal silver after 1930. In fact, following the increase of production costs and its suspension in many medical products, colloidal silver became almost unsaleable. But the biggest decrease occurred in the 1940s with the arrival of antibiotics on the market. The accidental discovery of Alexander Flemingof penicillin in 1920 changed the therapeutic habits of the physicians, and colloidal silver became totally disuse.
However, in the 1970s, Dr. Becker of Syracuse University in New York described the beneficial effects of colloidal silver on treating many incurable infections including MRSA (methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus). Instead of appreciation, he only received dismissal or the act of disregarding from the health authorities. Worse, for obscure reasons, the funding of his study is withdrawn and he was forced to stop his research.
Other physicians have taken over and engaged in the study of the effects of silver on multiplebacteria and viruses. Researches of Professor Earl Henderson show, for example, that biotic Silver proteinatewould be an inhibitor renin and HIV-1. The professor, in his presentation of the study,explains that these results are very promising and express the importance of further research.
Further laboratory Researches have shown many benefits of colloidal silver over 650 pathogens.Among these researchers include the following: UCLA Medical Labs in 1988, University of Philadelphia in 1995, Biochemistry Unit of Upjohn Laboratories in 1991, and one of the most recent by Garry Gordon, MD.
What FDA says about Colloidal Silver?
Despite these convincing researches, the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) in 1999 banned the use of colloidal silver. Based on all these studies, more and more come to understand many beneficial effects of colloidal silver not only against bacteria resistant to broad-spectrum antibiotics but also in cell regeneration in the case of cancer, bone fracture, even against some form of the HIV infection. Nevertheless, all these studies are deemed inadmissible and unreliableby pharmaceutical authorities.
But after so many evidences, the FDA has eventually accepted the sale of colloidal silver on the market in the USA under some strict conditions. For instance, the FDA prohibits manufacturers to put on the label of colloid silver products that it helps fight against infection contrary to the EPA (United States Environmental Protection Agency) that recognizes these properties.
Uses of Colloidal Silver by Modern Professionals
Colloidal silver is used in many medical conditions without causing any adverse effects when used at normal dosage.
Thanks to internet and social media, colloidal silver is now worldwide known, and a great majority of individuals and professionals successfully use it. For instance, in USA, DR. Garry Gordon not only uses colloidal silver but also sell it; In England, Dr. Robert Strohal professor associate in dermatology at the Federal Academic Hospital in Feldkirch is known for using of silver dressingsfor patients with MRSA. In a British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) documentary, Dr. RobertStrohal said the following:
“I was shocked by the results. I did not expect that to be effective … the dressing prevents infection from escaping, which means that nurses and doctors who come into contact with thepatient may not be infected and pass it on to other patients … this could have a huge effect if this technique is adopted as a common practice in countries like the United Kingdom and the United States where MRSA is a real health problem.”
Is Colloidal Silver Harmful to Human Health?
The main attack that the health and pharmaceutical authorities often use against colloidal silverin medicine is the fact that silver is toxic to human health. Indeed, regular high intake of silver salts through the skin or mucous membranes can cause a disease called Argyria(or argyrosis), which is characterized by gray to gray-black staining of the skin along with dyspnea (shortness of breath or breathlessness), palpitations and edema (swelling of body tissues).
Paul Karason and Stan Jones are two of people suffered from Argyria; and the opponents of colloidal silver often use them as proof of the dangers of colloidal silver. Indeed, Paul Karasonconsumed and used as a face balm in large amount of solution ionic silver, which he madehimself at home, and that for 14 years. Stan Jones continues to promote the use of colloidal silver as a home remedy, despite his excessive self-medication which leads to skin discoloration.
Colloidal Silverand Ionic Silver
The confusion between colloidal silver and ionic silver solution is in question here. The salts that form in the solution are very dangerous and responsible for the development of argyria. These salts are stored permanently in the tissues and, when exposed to UV, to give the skin a blue color. But the solution of colloidal silver is not composed of salts but of nanoparticles of silver.
However, whether colloidal silver is used as an alternative cancer treatment or else, caution is very important. It is necessary to do the following if you are not a professional or familiar with colloidal silver:
- Do consult a health care provider before taking the product
- Do not confuse the terms colloidal silver and ionic silver solution which may contain silversalts
- Do no neglect or fail to follow recommended doses which describes below.
Dosage according to EPA
EPA recommends a safe dosage which individual can take daily without risk. For a healthy adult of 70 kg or more, the recommended dose is 1.05mg for a colloidal silver solution at a concentration of 10 ppm (= 10 mg / L). This corresponds to a consumption of 7 tablespoons of Colloidal Silver per day for 70 years.
EPA also provides information on the lethal dose of silver. 1.324g silver or 132.4L solution of colloidal silver can lead to serious adverse effects. It therefore is very difficult for an individual to develop argyria or endanger his health by consuming colloidal silver. The problem comes with exaggeration. As the proverb says, “excès en tout nuire” (excess inanythingharms)
References:
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