Snake oils, BG cures...credibility!

[Tony]

Hello,

   The issue of Colloidal Silver was recently brought to my attention.   This is something that I looked extensively into last year.   For those who know about my son, this will make some sense...I don't feel like going into his medical history here.  My own conclusion was that this is unproven and that the risks far outweighed the *benefits* which IMOHO, are unsubstantiated.

   And then there are the claims...I have pages of claims on my home computer from my research...NONE of which are clinically verified...hello!?!   So, after reading the testimonial in which a most ridiculous claim was made, I couldn't help but think of all of the Assembly type of snake oils, gulliblepathic treatments and the classic "Shot of Joe!"

  QuackWatch.com has a pretty comprehensive bit of information on Colloidal Silver that I hope can give some sort of a balance.

   When a person makes such unsubstantiated claims with such enthusiasm...I pretty much write them off as a source for credible analysis.

   Maybe a little "squirt of Silver" is all we need?  =)

please forgive me for the length but heck, I put up with all of the photos...Tony

Here are some excerpts from QuackWatch.com

Colloidal Silver: Risk without Benefit

Quackwatch Home Page


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 1997 and 1998, Changes International, a Florida-based multilevel company, stated:
Block quote start

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]
Block quote end

Seasilver International,
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:
Block quote start

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]
Block quote end

In 1995, an herbal distributor named Leslie Taylor tested nine commonly marketed colloidal silver products available at health-food stores and concluded:
List of 3 items
• 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.
list end

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, seven cases of argyria related to silver products have been reported:
List of 5 items
• 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].
list end

Enforcement Actions

Between October 1993 and September 1994, the FDA issued warning letters to five colloidal silver marketers::
List of 5 items
• 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.

In October 1996, the FDA proposed to ban the use of colloidal silver or silver salts in over-the-counter products [7]. 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 [8]. 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.

...

Hope I can post this...Tony