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Ahhh yeah, colloidal silver is making a comeback! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medical_uses_of_silver#Alternative_medicine http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medical

by meritt 13y ago

Ahhh yeah, colloidal silver is making a comeback! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medical_uses_of_silver#Alternative_medicine http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medical_uses_of_silver#Alternat...

Alex3917 13y ago
I'm afraid I just blue myself.
- kefka 13y ago
  And everybody is always hating on the Drow. Who would have figured they were just argyria sufferers.
colanderman 13y ago
From your link: "Colloidal silver preparations primarily deliver inactive metallic silver, rather than the active microbicidal silver ion." From TFA: "Collins and his team found that silver — in the form of dissolved ions — attacks bacterial cells"
- gngeal 13y ago
  Obviously, it's the colloidal silver version of homeopathy! I just hope the authors of the article haven't lulled themselves into thinking that they've just invented a silver bullet for infections.
  - viraptor 13y ago
    The idea of homeopathy tries to make the solutions "stronger" by dissolving them with water. It's the main process behind it - the point where you're pretty much left with just water. Nothing like that is claimed here. This idea is based on how ions of silver interact with cells which was also described. You may not agree with the article, but comparing it to homeopathy is just silly.
    - gngeal 13y ago
      Oops. Apparently, I've forgotten to include the joke tag.
    - eru 13y ago
      > [...] by dissolving them with water. I thought they mostly used sugar or alcohol (depending on substance).
- dnautics 13y ago
  it's a little silly to believe that the high doses of colloidal silver that the crazies take (enough to make their faces literally blue) doesn't slough off silver(I). The high surface area of colloidal silver means that plenty of it is exposed to oxygen in a highly-reactive surface.
- DanBC 13y ago
  It'd be great if there was a nice infographic that people like me could use to point out the difference between what this paper talks about (real) and colloidal silver (harmful, with a lot of false information) so that when cranks use this paper to peddle lies I can give people simple to understand information.
dsl 13y ago
http://nccam.nih.gov/health/silver http://nccam.nih.gov/health/silver Colloidal silver has been shown to have antibacterial properties in vitro (in a petri dish or test tube), and in fact it is still used by NASA and the World Health Organization as a drinking water disinfectant, but no evidence has ever shown it effective in vivo (used internally in a living being).
- camperman 13y ago
  Drinking colloidal silver killed my amoebic dysentery - a rather horrible strain from drinking Egyptian water - within a day. That was after a week of very expensive treatment had done nothing - if anything I was getting worse. Three or four glasses of 30ppm silver in water over the course of 24 hours and I quickly recovered. It is very effective in vivo for some things. Is there peer reviewed research behind this? Probably not. But after reading Ben Goldacre's Bad Pharma, I'm of the opinion that my anecdote carries as much weight as the industry's research.
  - davidw 13y ago
    Given how doctors recommend sinus rinses these days, I wonder if adding some silver to it might be effective against ongoing sinus infections, especially since the rinse actually goes in and out, so you're not actually taking in much of it. It's impossible to find serious information on it though because of all the quackery. I'd love to not need antibiotics for those things, but they are often very effective: I stop being sick from one day to the next.
    - camperman 13y ago
      Give it a try. I make my own solution from a battery, a resistor, distilled water and some 9999 grade silver wire but your local store should have it. I've got BMW silver-impregnated socks and they just never smell even after a full day in boots. My wife has used colloidal silver gel on burns (she's a nurse) and it's an incredible anti-bacterial agent. Silver, like ozone, needs to be treated with respect for medical purposes and you're sadly right that there's a good deal of nonsense out there but it does work.
GigabyteCoin 13y ago
I'm as big of a skeptic as they come, but after reading the article, I don't think they're talking about colloidal silver. Rather "silver — in the form of dissolved ions".
- meritt 13y ago
  I fully understand they aren't talking about colloidal silver. It was more poking fun at the article talking about the amazing medicinal effects to be achieved by simply adding silver to stuff. Legitimate or not, it /sounds/ just like the same bullshit from the 90s.
nacho2sweet 13y ago
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gq8C0GknwAM http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gq8C0GknwAM
worldsayshi 13y ago
I've been having a huge argument over colloidal silver in the family. It's hard to stay reasonable when there are family members health possibly at stake. I've kept a very skeptical stance, although I can't really say I can argue from any confidence. It seems obvious that the idea is littered with quackery and hopeful thinking. This article makes me more confused.

by meritt 13y ago

Ahhh yeah, colloidal silver is making a comeback! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medical_uses_of_silver#Alternative_medicine http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medical_uses_of_silver#Alternat...

Alex3917 13y ago

I'm afraid I just blue myself.

kefka 13y ago
And everybody is always hating on the Drow. Who would have figured they were just argyria sufferers.

colanderman 13y ago

From your link: "Colloidal silver preparations primarily deliver inactive metallic silver, rather than the active microbicidal silver ion." From TFA: "Collins and his team found that silver — in the form of dissolved ions — attacks bacterial cells"

gngeal 13y ago
Obviously, it's the colloidal silver version of homeopathy! I just hope the authors of the article haven't lulled themselves into thinking that they've just invented a silver bullet for infections.
- viraptor 13y ago
  The idea of homeopathy tries to make the solutions "stronger" by dissolving them with water. It's the main process behind it - the point where you're pretty much left with just water. Nothing like that is claimed here. This idea is based on how ions of silver interact with cells which was also described. You may not agree with the article, but comparing it to homeopathy is just silly.
  - gngeal 13y ago
    Oops. Apparently, I've forgotten to include the joke tag.
  - eru 13y ago
    > [...] by dissolving them with water. I thought they mostly used sugar or alcohol (depending on substance).
dnautics 13y ago
it's a little silly to believe that the high doses of colloidal silver that the crazies take (enough to make their faces literally blue) doesn't slough off silver(I). The high surface area of colloidal silver means that plenty of it is exposed to oxygen in a highly-reactive surface.
DanBC 13y ago
It'd be great if there was a nice infographic that people like me could use to point out the difference between what this paper talks about (real) and colloidal silver (harmful, with a lot of false information) so that when cranks use this paper to peddle lies I can give people simple to understand information.

dsl 13y ago

http://nccam.nih.gov/health/silver http://nccam.nih.gov/health/silver Colloidal silver has been shown to have antibacterial properties in vitro (in a petri dish or test tube), and in fact it is still used by NASA and the World Health Organization as a drinking water disinfectant, but no evidence has ever shown it effective in vivo (used internally in a living being).

camperman 13y ago
Drinking colloidal silver killed my amoebic dysentery - a rather horrible strain from drinking Egyptian water - within a day. That was after a week of very expensive treatment had done nothing - if anything I was getting worse. Three or four glasses of 30ppm silver in water over the course of 24 hours and I quickly recovered. It is very effective in vivo for some things. Is there peer reviewed research behind this? Probably not. But after reading Ben Goldacre's Bad Pharma, I'm of the opinion that my anecdote carries as much weight as the industry's research.
- davidw 13y ago
  Given how doctors recommend sinus rinses these days, I wonder if adding some silver to it might be effective against ongoing sinus infections, especially since the rinse actually goes in and out, so you're not actually taking in much of it. It's impossible to find serious information on it though because of all the quackery. I'd love to not need antibiotics for those things, but they are often very effective: I stop being sick from one day to the next.
  - camperman 13y ago
    Give it a try. I make my own solution from a battery, a resistor, distilled water and some 9999 grade silver wire but your local store should have it. I've got BMW silver-impregnated socks and they just never smell even after a full day in boots. My wife has used colloidal silver gel on burns (she's a nurse) and it's an incredible anti-bacterial agent. Silver, like ozone, needs to be treated with respect for medical purposes and you're sadly right that there's a good deal of nonsense out there but it does work.

GigabyteCoin 13y ago

I'm as big of a skeptic as they come, but after reading the article, I don't think they're talking about colloidal silver. Rather "silver — in the form of dissolved ions".

meritt 13y ago
I fully understand they aren't talking about colloidal silver. It was more poking fun at the article talking about the amazing medicinal effects to be achieved by simply adding silver to stuff. Legitimate or not, it /sounds/ just like the same bullshit from the 90s.

nacho2sweet 13y ago

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gq8C0GknwAM http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gq8C0GknwAM

worldsayshi 13y ago

I've been having a huge argument over colloidal silver in the family. It's hard to stay reasonable when there are family members health possibly at stake. I've kept a very skeptical stance, although I can't really say I can argue from any confidence. It seems obvious that the idea is littered with quackery and hopeful thinking. This article makes me more confused.