|
Before the 1940s silver was once known
worldwide as a most powerful antiseptic. Then it was dropped in favour
of the newly discovered antibiotics.
The 1940s ushered in the age of exciting
new "miracle drugs", beginning with penicillin. At that time these drugs
were considered the most important medical discovery in the battle against
infectious diseases. The conquest of infectious disease seemed complete,
so much so that the Surgeon General of the United States felt confident
to declare in 1969 "The time has come to close the book on infectious
diseases".
But by 1994, in an address before the
American Association for the Advancement of Science, Dr Alexander Tomasz
voiced the concern of scientists, clinical microbiologists, medical
practitioners and public health professionals about the rapid rise of
antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Today we know that medicine's purported
triumph over infectious diseases was an illusion. Disease-causing bacteria
have become alarmingly resistant to antibiotics. Medical science is,
at present, doing nothing more than the equivalent of scrambling around
trying to "plug holes in a dike". Prospects for an antibiotic solution
to this potential microbial nightmare are grim.
The more threatening multi-drug resistant
"bugs" that have begun to gain a foothold include Pneumococcus, Staphylococcus
aureus, Enterococcus faecium and Tuberculosis, with the prospects
of the "white plague" returning upon us with a vengeance.
Pneumococcus is the culprit
behind outbreaks of pneumonia; it can also cause life-threatening infections
of the bloodstream, and meningitis. It is the major "causative agent"
of middle ear infections in children and multi-resistant strains of
pneumococcus are already among us.
Staphylococcus aureus is the
most common cause of skin, wound and bloodstream infections in hospitalised
patients. A number of strains of Staph. aureus (called MRSA or
multiple resistant Staph. Aureus) are now resistant to almost
all available antibiotics. In most hospitals, the only remaining line
of defence against the spread of MRSA is an antibiotic by the name of
Vancomycin. How long it will hold is anybody's guess.
Enterococcus faecium has already
acquired resistance to Vancomycin. By 1992 it had become the third most
frequent agent of hospital-acquired wound and urinary tract infections,
septicaemia and endocarditis. At this point in time some strains of
this bacterium cannot be killed by any available antibiotic.
Infectious disease specialists and
doctors believe this situation has been caused by the excessive use
of antibiotic drugs. Patients often demand, and doctors often prescribe
antibiotics for illnesses such as the common cold and viral infections
that will not actually respond to antibiotics. They cannot respond because
they are viral. Antibiotics only kill bacteria, and in some cases
fungi, but never viruses. Doctors know this and act irresponsibly when
they prescribe antibiotics prematurely, not knowing if the infection
is due to bacteria or viruses. Every unnecessary dose of antibiotics
gives the bacteria another chance to develop resistance to the drug
being used.
Silver Returns to Medicine
Yet, prior to 1938,
colloidal silver
was administered in just about every way that modern antibiotics and
antiseptics are administered today. It was injected both intravenously
and intramuscularly, used as a gargle for throat conditions, applied
as a douche, taken orally and applied topically even for sensitive tissues,
and dropped into the eyes.
The comeback of silver in medicine
began in the 1970's when Dr Carl Moyer, chairman of Washington University's
Department of Surgery received a grant to develop a better treatment
for burn victims. Chief biochemist Dr Margraf worked with Moyer and
others to find an antiseptic strong yet safe enough to use over large
areas of the body. They reviewed 22 antiseptic compounds before trying
silver. Today silver is being used in seventy percent of the burn centres
in the U.S.
Colloidal silver
may one day become recognised as the most universal antibiotic natural
substance that there is. Many forms of bacteria, viruses and fungi use
a specific enzyme for their metabolism. Silver effectively disables
that enzyme; it has been shown to be toxic to fungi, bacteria, protozoa,
parasites and many viruses.
Medicinal uses of Silver
Medical uses of silver throughout history
have included the use of silver foil and plates to replace missing bone
fragments. Silver nitrate has long been prescribed for stomach ulcers.
Silver drops are still placed in newborn babies' eyes to kill bacteria.
Silver has been used as a cure for herpes, and it is still applied to
certain eye, nose and throat infections.
A hundred years ago scientists discovered
that silver processed in a certain way was excellent for antibiotic
treatment. Known as "colloidal silver", it was high-tech for its time,
but compared with today's silver colloids, it was technically inferior.
One of the drawbacks in the production method used in the early 1900's
was the technology available; the silver particles never reached their
optimum ultramicroscopic size.
A colloid is a substance that consists
of ultra-fine particles that don't dissolve, but remain 'suspended'
in a liquid. In a true colloid, the particles range in size from about
0.01 to 0.001 of a micron in diameter. They are larger than most molecules,
but still invisible to the naked eye.
Although a number of different techniques
have been developed, in an attempt to achieve a true silver colloid,
the best and most effective method is the electrical process since it
is the only method which preserves the necessary homogeneity, minuteness
of particles, purity and stability to create a true colloid.
A true silver colloid is composed of
particles of ultra-fine, 99.999% silver, electrically charged and held
in suspension in a solution of demineralised water. According to the
Colloid Research Foundation, the highest quality
colloidal silver
consists of the maximum number of particles of the minimum possible
size with the ultimate solution having a huge number of particles of
one atom, each carrying an electrical charge. A true silver colloid
should not contain any artificial stabilizers or chemical additives
of any kind, although these are present in some silver products presently
on the market.
Laboratory evidence
Colloidal
silver has been tested at numerous laboratories. It appears to be
effective on microbiological organisms, because it carries an electrical
charge opposite to that of most pathogens. One researcher, Alfred Searle,
in describing the effects of silver, states that for internal administration
silver is "rapidly fatal to parasites, both bacterial or otherwise,
without any toxic action on the host."
N R Thompson of the Runcorn Health
Laboratory in Cheshire, England states, "to primitive life forms . .
. silver is as toxic as the most powerful chemical disinfectants . .
."
Colloidal
silver has also been tested at UCLA Medical Laboratories. The report
states, "The silver solutions were antibacterial for concentrations
of 105 organisms per 105
ml of Streptoccus pyogenes, Staphylococcus
aureus, Neisseria gonorrhea, Gardnerella Vaginalis, Salmonella Typhi
and other enteric pathogens. It is also fungicidal for Candida
albicans, Candida globate, and M furfur".
Some scientists now believe that a
silver deficiency may be responsible for some of our modern diseases.
People who have low silver levels have been found to be more frequently
sick and to have innumerable colds, flu, fevers and other illnesses.
No side effects
Medical journal reports and studies
have indicated no known side effects from use of
colloidal silver. The Colloid Research
Foundation reports that "the concentration of silver necessary to sterilize
water is between 0.04 to 0.2ppm". The Foundation concludes that it is
therefore obvious that a concentration of 10 to 30 ppm will be a sufficient
concentration to be effective as well as safe to consume on a regular
basis. Even if several ounces of colloidal
silver at a concentration of 10 ppm were consumed on a daily basis
for several years this would be well below any toxicity level. Higher
concentrations above 30 ppm of silver are not necessarily going to be
more effective.
Dr Henry Crooks has found that silver
in the colloidal state is highly germicidal, quite harmless to humans,
and non-toxic. It is not addictive and the body doesn't build up a tolerance
to it. It has absolutely no negative effect on any human organ. It is
tasteless, odourless, non-stinging, non-burning, and harmless to the
eyes and skin. It can be mixed with other medications without incident
and it's perfectly safe for children, even pets.
The conclusion of extensive ongoing
medical studies was stated by Sir Malcolm Morris, "Colloidal silver
is free from the drawbacks of other preparations of silver . . . instead
of producing irritation is has a distinctly soothing effect."
|
