A Brief History of The Health Support Uses of Silver

​For thousands of years silver has been used as a healing agent by civilizations throughout the world. Its medical, preservative and restorative powers can be traced as far back as the ancient Greek and Roman Empires. Long before the development of modern pharmaceuticals, silver was employed as a germicide.

Consider these interesting facts:

• The Greeks used silver vessels to keep water and other liquids fresh. The writings of Herodotus, the Greek philosopher and historian, date the use of silver to before the birth of Christ.

• The Roman Empire stored wine in silver urns to prevent spoilage.

• The use of silver is mentioned in ancient Egyptian writings.

• In the Middle Ages, silverware protected the wealthy from the full brunt of the plague.

• Before the advent of modern germicides and antibiotics, it was known that disease-causing pathogens could not survive in the presence of silver. Consequently, silver was used in dishware, drinking vessels and eating utensils.

• In particular, the wealthy stored and ate their food from silver vessels to keep bacteria from growing.

• The Chinese emperors and their courts ate with silver chopsticks.

• The Druids have left evidence of their use of silver.

• Settlers in the Australian outback suspend silverware in their water tanks to retard spoilage.

• Pioneers trekking across the American West found that if they placed silver or copper coins in their casks of drinking water, it kept the water safe from bacteria, algae, etc.

• All along the frontier, silver dollars were put in milk to keep it fresh. Some of us remember our grandparents doing the same.

• Silver leaf was used to combat infection in wounds sustained by troops during World War I.

• Prior to the introduction of antibiotics, Colloidal Silver was used widely in hospitals and has been known as a bactericide for at least 1200 years.

• In the early 1800s, doctors used silver sutures in surgical wounds with very successful results.

• In Ayurvedic medicine, silver is used in small amounts as a tonic, elixir or rejuvenative agent for patients debilitated by age or disease.

Silver Re-Discovered
Not until the late 1800's did western scientists re-discover what had been known for thousands of years - that silver is a powerful germ fighter. Medicinal silver compounds were then developed and silver became commonly used as a medicine. By the early part of the 1900s, the use of silver was becoming widespread. By 1940 there were approximately four dozen different silver compounds on the market.

Although there were a few flare-ups of negative publicity regarding medicinal silver in the early 1900s, (due to the overuse of certain types of protein-bound silver compounds causing a discoloration of the skin called argyria and due to a supply of improperly prepared and unstable silver) reputable medical journal reports demonstrated that a properly prepared colloidal dispersion of silver was completely suitable with no adverse side effects. T. H. Anderson Wells reported in the Lancet (February 16th, 1918) that a preparation of colloidal silver was "used intravenously. . . without any irritation of the kidneys and with no pigmentation of the skin. "

New knowledge of body chemistry gave rise to the enormous array of applications for colloidal disinfectants and medicines and for on-going research into the capabilities and possibilities for silver colloids. However, Silver’s “new-found” fame as a superior infection-fighting agent was short lived.

How Silver Lost Favor
During the 1930s, synthetically manufactured drugs began to make their appearance and the profits, together with the simplicities of manufacturing this new source of treatment, became a powerful force in the marketplace. There was much excitement over the new 'wonder drugs' and at that time, no antibiotic-resistant strains of disease organisms had surfaced. Silver quickly lost its status to modern antibiotics.

On-going Uses of Colloidal Silver
The use of some silver preparations in mainstream medicine survived. Among them are the use of dilute silver nitrate in newborn babies' eyes to protect from infection and the use of "Silvadine," a silver based salve, in virtually every burn ward in America to kill infection. A new silver based bandage has recently been approved by the FDA and licensed for sale. Other uses that did not lose favor include:
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• Silver water purification filters and tablets are manufactured in Switzerland and used by many national and international airlines to prevent growth of algae and bacteria.

 

• Electrical ionization units that impregnate the water with silver and copper ions are used to sanitize pool water without the harsh effects of chlorine. 

 

• The former Soviet Union used silver to sterilize recycled water on their space vehicles. 

 

• The Swiss use silver filters in homes and offices.

 

• Some U.S. municipalities use silver in treatment of sewage. 

 

• In the Japanese work place, silver is a popular agent in the fight against airborne toxins as well other industrial poisons.

 

• Silver-infused bandages and wound dressings are now commercially available. 

 

• Silver has been found to prevent the infection resulting from burns.

But for the most part, with the discovery of pharmaceutical antibiotics, interest in silver as an anti-microbial agent declined almost to the point of extinction.

The Resurgence of Silver in Medicine
The return of silver to conventional medicine began in the 1970s. The late Dr. Carl Moyer, chairman of Washington University's Department of Surgery, received a grant to develop better methods of treatment for burn victims. Dr. Margraf, as the chief biochemist, worked with Dr. Moyer and other surgeons to find an antiseptic strong enough, yet safe to use over large areas of the body. Dr. Margraf investigated 22 antiseptic compounds and found drawbacks in all of them.
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Reviewing earlier medical literature, Dr. Margraf found continual references to the use of silver. However, since concentrated silver nitrate is both corrosive and painful, he diluted the silver to a .5 percent solution and found that it killed invasive burn bacteria and permitted wounds to heal. Importantly, resistant strains did not appear. But, silver nitrate was far from ideal. So research continued for more suitable silver preparations.

Silver Sulphadiazine (Silvadene)
Marion Laboratories) is now used in 70 percent of burn centers in America. Discovered by Dr. Charles Fox of Columbia University, sulphadiazine has also been successful in treating cholera, malaria and syphilis. It also stops the herpes virus, which is responsible for cold sores, shingles and worse.
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The history and uses of colloidal silver are well known and documented. They can be researched easily on the Internet through search engines and any colloid forum, bulletin boards or blogs.  MesoSilver, is the highest ever tested.

This means it is the most effective of any colloidal silver product ever made. With not a single serious adverse event ever reported, it is also one of the safest supplements on the market today.

What happens when you take silver compounds?
A silver compound will typically become silver chloride as soon as it hits the stomach. The silver chloride is sparingly soluble, about .8 ppm. The dissolved silver chloride will move into the bloodstream and once there will be exposed to chemicals that will induce the silver to plate out on any other silver particles present.
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However when silver compounds, such as silver chloride or silver nitrate are taken initially there will be no other silver particles present, so the silver chloride circulates in the blood until exposed to light in the skin, where they are photo reduced to silver atoms.

This is the photographic process that occurs when you take a picture (with a film camera). Once the silver atoms are produced in the skin, then the rest of the silver chloride will begin reducing onto those particles making them grow very fast, and resulting in many of them getting stuck in the skin.

Since the particles are so small, they will appear as black or blue, giving the skin a bluish cast. This is called argyria, and can result from taking silver compounds without any colloidal component. Applying silver compounds directly to the skin can increase the effect tremendously.
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This was dramatically demonstrated by Paul Karason who the news media has dubbed "The Blue Man". Although the news media has continually said that he was taking colloidal silver, nothing could be further from the truth. Interviews with him have determined that he not only was NOT taking colloidal silver, but was following a protocol that would almost certainly lead to his condition.

He obviously did not read this report, since if he had, he surely would never have done what he did. First he was adding sea salt to his distilled water, and was not using any current limit. Thus what he was making was silver chloride, a silver compound well known to cause argyria, NOT colloidal silver.

He had NO colloidal silver at all in his brew. Instead of being crystal clear, as properly made ionic silver is, he had so much silver chloride in it, that it looked more like milk than water. It is likely that he had 100 ppm of silver or more in his concoction, whereas 10 ppm is typical for normal CS.

He did not limit current, or do any of the things necessary to make a good colloid. This is important, since argyria can only be expected when high levels of silver SALTS are taken.
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On top of that he applied it directly to his skin, effectively making his skin a photographic plate, and used tanning beds to "Fix" the silver in his skin.

Researchers such as myself have been warning people about this for almost 10 years now, long before people started reporting the problem. Obviously he did not get the memo!
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I really don't think I could have come up with a better protocol to turn blue. It is almost identical to a method I had played with to produce tattoos by putting silver chloride on the skin, and exposing to light via a template to produce a blue tattoo.

To see just what one can end up looking like if they ignore the information on the correct way to make colloidal silver, and use silver compounds instead,​ look at Paul below.

Man who incorrectly made colloidal silver and used too much of it.