Ouch..do we really need go there?
chuckle...
I recently received an Email regarding an article titled Colloidal Silver: Risk Without Benefit.
Copied from an interesting website called Quackwatch..
http://www.quackwatch.org/index.html
This one is for Kensho "and others" who have extensive experience in health care.Title: Colloidal Silver: Risk Without Benefit
To view the entire article with hyperlinks, click on the link below or cut and paste it into a web browser:
http://www.quackwatch.org/01QuackeryRel ... verad.html
I have a large bottle of Colloidal Silver on top our kitchen cupboard that I often stare up to in great reverence...... but after reading this article my bubble has been popped..it may very well may be heading for the trash can.
I wonder if others on EMF have a evidence to the contrary that Colloidal Silver is at best a placebo, or at worst, a poison.
Anyone?
Thank you M.
David.
______________________________________________________
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 1997 and 1998, Changes International, 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 International,
a California-based multilevel company, had claimed that American are
suffering from "silver deficiency." Although silver
is not an essential nutrient, product information posted on the
company's Web site several years ago stated:
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.
Critical Studies and Case Reports
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]. So far, eleven cases of argyria related to silver products
have been reported:
A 56-year-old man who had sold and used colloidal silver
for three years, developed blue/gray discoloration of his fingernails
accompanied by a very high blood level of silver [4].
A married couple who had three years of daily consumption
of a drink prepared by administering an electrolytic charge to
a bowl of water that contained a silver bar [5].
Another couple had been taking a silver-containing "dietary
supplement" prescribed by a naturopath [5].
A mentally ill man who had been drinking silver-containing
herbal tea for about 10 months [5].
Stan Jones, Montana's Libertarian Party candidate for the
U.S. Senate, who reportedly started taking colloidal silver in
1999 for fear that Y2K disruptions might lead to a shortage of
antibiotics. He made his own concoction by electrically two silver
wires in a glass of water [6].
Two men, ages 63 and 76, developed argyria after a year of
product use inspired by Internet claims [7].
A 16-year-old boy developed blue-gray pigmentation of his entire body after ingesting a silver-containing dietary supplement for a year. The product, packaged so that it was identical to bottled water. was touted as a preventive for everyday infections [8].
A 58-year-old man who treated a presumed kidney infection with a home-brewed colloidal solution 12 times a day for 4 days developed argyria about 4 weeks later [9].
A 38-year-old man developed argyria after ingesting approximately 16 ounces of 450 ppm colloidal silver three times a day for 10 months to treat his arthritis and other conditions. He made the solution with a simple battery-operated chamber that leached silver from pure silver wire. He had obtained the plans from information on the Internet [10]. The photograph to the right shows how his skin color compares to that of normal skin.
Enforcement Actions
Between October 1993 and September 1994, the FDA issued warning
letters to five colloidal silver marketers::
Higher Education Library Publications (H.E.L.P.), of Springfield,
Utah, was ordered to stop claiming that its colloidal silver
product was effective as a natural antibiotic and might be effective
against cancer, genito-urinary diseases, tuberculosis, and AIDS.
Nutrition, Inc., of Arvada, Colorado, was ordered to stop
stating or implying that its Silvicidal, when administered
orally or intravenously, was nontoxic, FDA-approved, and was
a broad-spectrum antibiotic that killed bacteria and all virus
and fungal infections. In addition, it was falsely claimed to
be effective against a long list of specific diseases.
Reseau International of Cincinnati, Ohio was ordered to stop
claiming that its colloidal silver product was a "natural
antibiotic and anti-inflammatory immune system stimulant"
and that it was effective against cancer, staph, strep, influenza,
general body infections, inflammation, impaired immune system,
fungus toxicity, tonsillitis, Meniere's symptoms, whooping cough,
shingles, syphilis, cholera, and malaria. The labeling also stated
that colloidal silver could cause major growth stimulation of
human tissues and can regenerate
Silverado Inc., of Bountiful, Utah, was warned to stop making
false claims that its colloidal silver product was effective
as an antibiotic, anti-inflammatory, anti-viral, and anti-fungal
agent and that it could stimulate the immune system.
Unic, of Carmichael, California, was ordered to stop claiming
that its colloidal silver product was effective against many
diseases and could heal burn-damaged tissue without scarring.
In October 1996, the FDA proposed to ban the use of colloidal
silver or silver salts in over-the-counter products [11]. A Final
Rule banning such use was issued on August 17, 1999 and became
effective September 16th. The rule applies to any nonprescription
colloidal silver or silver salt product claimed to be effective
in preventing or treating any disease [12]. Silver products can
still be sold as "dietary supplements" provided that
no health claims are made for them. During 2000, the
FDA issued warnings to more than 20 companies whose Web sites
were making illegal therapeutic claims for colloidal silver products.
In 2000, the Federal Court of Australia banned Vital Earth
Company Pty Limited and its director Darryl John Jones from falsely
representing that the colloidal silver produced by their "Vital
Silver 3000 Zapper," "Vital Silver 2000 Automatic"
and "Vital Silver 2000":
Can kill all disease-causing bacteria, fungi and virus within
six minutes of contact
Has no harmful side effects; that colloidal silver could
be used as an antibiotic for all the acquired diseases of active
AIDS
Is effective with more than 650 different pathogenic bacteria
and virus types
Has been used successfully against diseases including AIDS,
cholera, diabetes, leprosy, leukemia, lupus, skin cancer, syphilis
and whooping cough.
The company was also ordered to pay AUS$9000 in costs and to
provide refunds [13].
In 2001, the FTC obtained consent agreements with two companies:
Robert C. Spencer and Lisa M. Spencer, doing business as
Aaron Company (Palm Bay, Florida). Colloidal silver has been
medically proven to kill over 650 disease-causing organisms in
the body and is effective in curing diseases ranging from cancer
and multiple sclerosis to HIV/AIDS [14].
ForMor, Inc., doing business as ForMor International, and
its president, Stan Gross (Birmingham, Alabama) agreed not to
make unsubstantiated claims that colloidal silver is effective
in treating over 650 infectious diseases, has no adverse side
effects, and is effective against arthritis, blood poisoning,
cancer, cholera, diphtheria, diabetes, dysentery, gonorrhea,
herpes, influenza, leprosy, lupus, malaria, meningitis, rheumatism,
shingles, staph infections, strep infections, syphilis, tuberculosis,
whooping cough, and yeast infections [14].
In 2002, the FTC obtained a consent agreement with Kris Pletschke,
doing business as Raw Health,
agreed to stop making unsubstantiated claims that its colloidal
silver product could treat or cure 650 different diseases; eliminate
all pathogens in the human body in six minutes or less; and is
medically proven to kill every destructive bacterial, viral, and
fungal organism in the body, including anthrax, Ebola, Hanta,
and flesh-eating bacteria [15].
In 2002, the Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration amended
its rules so that water-treatment products containing substances
like colloidal silver for which therapeutic claims are made must
meet the requirements of medicines included in the Australian
Register of Therapeutic Goods. This means that such products can
no longer be legally marketed without proof that they are safe
and effective for their intended purpose. The amendment was based
on clnclusions that:
There is little evidence to support therapeutic claims made
for colloidal silver products;
The risk to consumers of silver toxicity outweighs the value
of trying an unsubstantiated treatment, and bacterial resistance
to silver can occur
Efforts should be made to curb the illegal availability of
colloidal silver products, which is a significant public health
issue
.