Page 4 - E-Book-SILBERWASSER-ENGLISCH

COLLOIDAL SILVER
Ein

A universal germicide

Throughout the ages silver has been used in the fight against pathogenic organisms.
Silver could have a bright future in the treatment of a variety of diseases

Historical background and current research results

Silver has long been known for its special properties. The ancient Greeks, like the
Romans, already used silver containers to keep liquids fresh. For centuries, royal
households maintained this custom by storing their supplies in silver containers.
Privileged families used silver cutlery; they were served their meals on silver dishes
and their drinks in silver drinking vessels. It is a fact that the skin of the "blue-
blooded" people was said to have a bluish tinge due to tiny traces of metallic silver, if
consumed regularly. In America's pioneering days, settlers on their treks west put
silver dollar coins in their milk so that it would not spoil.

At the beginning of the 20th century, silver was recognized as a tried and tested
germicide. In medicine at that time, a solution called "silver colloid" or "colloidal silver
solution" was a commonly used support in antibacterial treatment. Although this
method was considered "high-tech" at that time, it was technically of low quality
compared to today's silver colloids. One of the major disadvantages at that time was
the particle size of the silver, which never reached the optimal ultra-microscopic size
possible today. Therefore, the silver colloids of that time did not achieve the highest
possible efficacy - especially since the production of effective silver colloids was very
complex and costly at that time.

This was also one of the reasons why the pharmaceutical industry demanded faster
acting drugs that were not only cheaper but also patentable. In addition, incorrect use
of silver colloid could lead to a permanent skin discoloration, called argyria, e.g.
overdose or use of improperly produced colloid which, even if taken in the correct
dose, would still absorb additional unknown silver compounds. For this reason,
colloidal silver fell out of favour with the doctors of the time. Nevertheless, such
prestigious magazines as the New England Journal of Medicine and The Lancet
(1914) published the results of scientific studies and described many successful
applications of colloidal silver.

In 1910, Dr. Henry Crooks, a pioneer in the research of colloidal silver, wrote that:
(...) certain metals, when in a colloidal state, have a higher germicidal effect, but are
completely harmless to humans. (...) It should be used in much higher concentrations
and with better results. (...) Bronchial tuberculosis, Staphylococcus pyogenes,
various types of streptococci and other pathological organisms are killed in three to
four minutes; in fact, there is no microbe that has not been killed by this colloid in
laboratory experiments within six minutes, and the concentration of silver does not
exceed twenty-five parts per million (...)".

In 1919 Alfred Searle, producer of a pharmaceutical mixture of the same name, wrote
in his book Forms of application of colloids in health and disease that: "(...) the use of
colloidal silver on human patients has been carried out in many cases with surprising
results. For internal treatment, oral or subcutaneous application (swallowed or
injected under the skin) has the advantage of being rapidly fatal to parasites without
causing toxic (poisonous) reactions in its host. It is absolutely safe!"