A Brief History of The Health Support Uses of Silver

For thousands of years silver has been used as a healing and anti-
bacterial agent by civilizations throughout the world. Its medical,
preservative and restorative powers can be traced as far back as the
ancient Greek and Roman Empires. Long before the development of modern
pharmaceuticals, silver was employed as a germicide and antibiotic.

Consider these interesting facts:

The Greeks used silver vessels to keep water and other liquids fresh.
The writings of Herodotus, the Greek philosopher and historian, date
the use of silver to before the birth of Christ.
The Roman Empire stored wine in silver urns to prevent spoilage.
The use of silver is mentioned in ancient Egyptian writings.
In the Middle Ages, silverware protected the wealthy from the full
brunt of the plague.
Before the advent of modern germicides and antibiotics, it was known
that disease-causing pathogens could not survive in the presence of
silver. Consequently, silver was used in dishware, drinking vessels
and eating utensils.
In particular, the wealthy stored and ate their food from silver
vessels to keep bacteria from growing.
The Chinese emperors and their courts ate with silver chopsticks.
The Druids have left evidence of their use of silver.
Settlers in the Australian outback suspend silverware in their water
tanks to retard spoilage.
Pioneers trekking across the American West found that if they placed
silver or copper coins in their casks of drinking water, it kept the
water safe from bacteria, algae, etc.
All along the frontier, silver dollars were put in milk to keep it
fresh. Some of us remember our grandparents doing the same.
Silver leaf was used to combat infection in wounds sustained by troops
during World War I.
Prior to the introduction of antibiotics, Colloidal Silver was used
widely in hospitals and has been known as a bactericide for at least
1200 years.
In the early 1800s, doctors used silver sutures in surgical wounds
with very successful results.
In Ayurvedic medicine, silver is used in small amounts as a tonic,
elixir or rejuvenative agent for patients debilitated by age or
disease.
Silver Re-Discovered
Not until the late 1800's did western scientists re-discover what had
been known for thousands of years - that silver is a powerful germ
fighter. Medicinal silver compounds were then developed and silver
became commonly used as a medicine. By the early part of the 1900s,
the use of silver as an antibacterial substance was becoming
widespread. By 1940 there were approximately four dozen different
silver compounds on the market being used to treat every known
infectious disease. These were available in oral, injectable, and
topical forms.

Although there were a few flare-ups of negative publicity regarding
medicinal silver in the early 1900s, (due to the overuse of certain
types of protein-bound silver compounds causing a discoloration of the
skin called argyria and due to a supply of improperly prepared and
unstable silver) reputable medical journal reports demonstrated that a
properly prepared colloidal dispersion of silver was completely
suitable with no adverse side effects. T. H. Anderson Wells reported
in the Lancet (February 16th, 1918) that a preparation of colloidal
silver was "used intravenously. . . without any irritation of the
kidneys and with no pigmentation of the skin. "

New knowledge of body chemistry gave rise to the enormous array of
applications for colloidal disinfectants and medicines and for on-
going research into the capabilities and possibilities for silver
colloids. However, Silver's "new-found" fame as a superior infection-
fighting agent was short lived.

How Silver Lost Favor
During the 1930s, synthetically manufactured drugs began to make their
appearance and the profits, together with the simplicities of
manufacturing this new source of treatment, became a powerful force in
the marketplace. There was much excitement over the new 'wonder drugs'
and at that time, no antibiotic-resistant strains of disease organisms
had surfaced. Silver quickly lost its status to modern antibiotics.

On-going Uses of Colloidal Silver
The use of some silver preparations in mainstream medicine survived.
Among them are the use of dilute silver nitrate in newborn babies'
eyes to protect from infection and the use of "Silvadine," a silver
based salve, in virtually every burn ward in America to kill
infection. A new silver based bandage has recently been approved by
the FDA and licensed for sale. Other uses that did not lose favor
include:

Silver water purification filters and tablets are manufactured in
Switzerland and used by many national and international airlines to
prevent growth of algae and bacteria.

Electrical ionization units that impregnate the water with silver and
copper ions are used to sanitize pool water without the harsh effects
of chlorine.

The former Soviet Union used silver to sterilize recycled water on
their space vehicles.

The Swiss use silver filters in homes and offices.

Some U.S. municipalities use silver in treatment of sewage.

In the Japanese work place, silver is a popular agent in the fight
against airborne toxins as well other industrial poisons.

Silver-infused bandages and wound dressings are now commercially
available.

Silver has been found to prevent the infection resulting from burns.
But for the most part, with the discovery of pharmaceutical
antibiotics, interest in silver as an anti-microbial agent declined
almost to the point of extinction.

The Resurgence of Silver in Medicine
The return of silver to conventional medicine began in the 1970s. The
late Dr. Carl Moyer, chairman of Washington University's Department of
Surgery, received a grant to develop better methods of treatment for
burn victims. Dr. Margraf, as the chief biochemist, worked with Dr.
Moyer and other surgeons to find an antiseptic strong enough, yet safe
to use over large areas of the body. Dr. Margraf investigated 22
antiseptic compounds and found drawbacks in all of them.

Reviewing earlier medical literature, Dr. Margraf found continual
references to the use of silver. However, since concentrated silver
nitrate is both corrosive and painful, he diluted the silver to a .5
percent solution and found that it killed invasive burn bacteria and
permitted wounds to heal. Importantly, resistant strains did not
appear. But, silver nitrate was far from ideal. So research continued
for more suitable silver preparations.

Silver sulphadiazine (Silvadene, Marion Laboratories) is now used in
70 percent of burn centers in America. Discovered by Dr. Charles Fox
of Columbia University, sulphadiazine has also been successful in
treating cholera, malaria and syphilis. It also stops the herpes
virus, which is responsible for cold sores, shingles and worse.

Results show Colloidal Silver to be highly germicidal, yet harmless
and non-toxic to humans. More importantly, research shows excellent
results with an astonishing array of bacterial, viral and fungal
conditions.

Colloidal Silver: Expert Opinions
Because of the research showing colloidal silver's superior
performance in fighting microbes, it has attracted the attention of
leading scientists and medical researchers throughout the world. Its
benefits are now stirring new interest as 50 prominent doctors are
currently researching the efficacy and applications of colloidal
silver in human health. As a result, many interesting studies have
emerged.

According to experts, no microorganism ever tested has been able to
stay alive for more than six minutes when exposed directly to
colloidal silver.

Science Digest cites colloidal silver as "...a wonder of modern
medicine," and further states "Antibiotics kill perhaps a half dozen
different disease organisms, but silver kills hundreds. Resistant
strains fail to develop. Moreover, silver is virtually non-toxic.
Colloidal silver, used as an anti-microbial agent, will not create
super bugs as antibiotics do."

Alfred Searle, founder of the giant Searle Pharmaceuticals (now
Monsanto) stated, "Applying colloidal silver to human subjects has
been done in a large number of cases with astonishingly successful
results. For internal administration ... it has the advantage being
rapidly fatal to pathogens without toxic action on its host. It is
quite stable." Further information indicates that Colloidal Silver
does not cause harmful interactions with other medications or topical
treatments.

In laboratory tests with colloidal silver, bacteria, viruses, and
fungal organisms are killed within minutes of contact. Larry C. Ford,
M.D. of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, UCLA School of
Medicine, Centre For The Health Sciences reported in November 1, 1988,
" I tested them (the silver solutions) using standard anti-microbial
tests for disinfectants. The silver solutions were anti-bacterial for
concentrations of 105 organisms per ml of Streptococcus Pyogenes,
Staphylococcus Aureus, Neisseria Gonorrhea, Gardnerella Vaginalis,
Salmonella Typhi and other enteric pathogens, and fungicidal for
Candida Albicans, Candida Globata and M. Furfur."

Because of the many organisms that have developed strains resistant to
modern antibiotics, Dr. Robert Becker's finding is of particular
importance. Becker, of Syracuse University stated, "All of the
organisms that we tested were sensitive to the electrically generated
silver ions, including some that were resistant to all known
antibiotics...In no case were any undesirable side effects of the
silver treatment apparent."

Everything Old Is New Again
Some researchers, such as Dr. Leonard Keene Hirschberg, A.M., M.D. of
Johns Hopkins, believe that the potential of colloidal silver is just
beginning to be discovered. Unlike antibiotics, which are specific
only to bacteria, Colloidal Silver disables certain enzymes needed by
anaerobic bacteria, viruses, yeasts, and fungus resulting in the
destruction of these enzymes. Further indication is that these
bacteria cannot develop a resistance to silver, as they do with
antibiotics, because silver attacks their food source, rather than
them directly

In fact, Colloidal Silver is experiencing a well-deserved resurgence
in use and research, proving once again the old adage that "There's
nothing new under the sun."

(c) 2008, Purest Colloids, Inc. All rights reserved.
Edited: rpautrey2