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I don't need to read past the second sentance. He starts by saying
that he is talking about colloidal silver, then immediately switches to
silver salts when talking about a problem. He is either to dumb to
know the difference, or is unable to support the negativity with CS so
he has to switch to another substance and hope we are too dumb to realize
it.
Marshall
[email protected] wrote:
Hi Ho Gang,
I have a response from some other inquires I have made. Can anyone tell me
what this is about.
Thanks.
Bob
Subject: Colloidal Silver
Date: Sat, 21 Aug 1999 22:48:34 -0700
From: VL Branning <[email protected]>
Reply-To: [email protected]
To: bob elmatti <[email protected]>
http://www.quackwatch.com/01QuackeryRelatedTopics/PhonyAds/silverad.html
Hi Bob, This is not very encouraging. I shall continue to look for you.
--------------------
Quackwatch Home Page
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.
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.
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