Medical Uses of Silver - Alternative Medicine

Alternative Medicine

Since about 1990, there has been a resurgence of the promotion of colloidal silver as an alternative medicine treatment, marketed with claims of it being an essential mineral supplement, or that it can prevent or treat numerous diseases, such as cancer, diabetes, HIV/AIDS, and herpes, as well as tuberculosis. Silver is not an essential mineral in humans; there is no dietary requirement for silver, and no such thing as a silver "deficiency". No medical evidence supports colloidal silver as being effective for any of these claimed indications.

The commercial product referred to as "colloidal silver", includes solutions that contain various concentrations of ionic silver compounds, silver colloids or silver compounds bound to proteins in water. Such products with concentrations of 30 parts per million (ppm) or less are typically manufactured using an electrolysis process, whereas those with higher concentrations of 50 ppm or more are usually silver compounds that have been bound with a protein. Colloidal silver preparations primarily deliver inactive metallic silver, rather than the active microbicidal silver ion.

No scientific evidence supports the effectiveness of colloidal silver in vivo. Some in vitro studies demonstrate an antibacterial effect of colloidal silver, although one study in 2004 of a colloidal silver solution marketed on the Internet showed no such antimicrobial activity. No clinical studies in humans demonstrate effectiveness, and a few report toxicity. The U.S. National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine has issued an advisory indicating the marketing claims made about colloidal silver are scientifically unsupported, the silver content of marketed supplements varies widely, and colloidal silver products can have serious side effects to the consumer, including "argyria,... neurologic problems (such as seizures), kidney damage, stomach distress, headaches, fatigue, and skin irritation. Colloidal silver may interfere with the body's absorption of some drugs, such as penacillamine, quinolones, tetracyclines, and thyroxine."

Although colloidal silver products are legally available at health food stores in the United States and Australia and are marketed over the Internet as a dietary supplement, it is illegal in the U.S. and Australia for marketers to make claims of medical effectiveness for colloidal silver. Ingestion of colloidal silver may result in argyria.