Health Benefits of Colloidal Silver

Marketed as a remedy for a range of health problems, colloidal silver is a solution of tiny silver particles suspended in a liquid base. It's typically taken orally, but some products are sprayed, applied to the skin, or injected into a vein.

Silver had been used in medicine for centuries, touted as a cure-all for everything from tuberculosis and arthritis to herpes and cancer. Even today, many alternative practitioners believe that colloidal silver offers health benefits by "boosting" immune function and preventing or treating infections, both common and severe.

Despite claims to the contrary, colloidal silver has no known function in the body. In fact, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ruled in 1999 that these colloidal silver products were neither safe nor effective and sued a number of manufacturers over false health claims.

While many colloidal silver products were removed from drugstore shelves following the FDA ruling, they have since been rebranded as dietary supplements or homeopathic remedies, neither of which require FDA approval.

Manufacturers of colloidal silver often broadly claim that their products are capable of stimulating the immune system and helping the body "heal" itself. Proponents believe that the supplement can aid in wound healing, improve skin disorders, and either prevent or treat diseases like flu, pneumonia, herpes, eye infections, shingles, cancer, and AIDS.

Many of these claims have been supported by test tube studies in which colloidal silver has been shown to exert powerful antibacterial, antiviral, antifungal, and anti-inflammatory effects. What the studies fail to show is what happens outside of the test tube.

When ingested, colloidal silver has the potential to cause toxicity and, in rare cases, death. Moreover, there remains little evidence that silver exerts the same antimicrobial properties when internalized.

While silver toxicity is rare, silver can accumulate in the body over months and years. This can lead to severe disfigurement and potentially harmful deposits in the liver, spleen, kidney, muscle, and brain, according to research from Imperial College in London.

That is not to say that silver offers no health benefits. When used topically (on the skin), colloidal silver can aid in healing and prevent infection.

A number of studies have investigated the use of silver-containing dressings on skin ulcers and wounds. Many of these have found that the silver particles exerted antibacterial properties that aid the treatment of diabetic ulcers, skin grafts, bed sores, necrotizing fasciitis, and other serious skin injuries.

This suggests that the short-term, topical use of silver-containing products have their place in treatment.

People who take colloidal silver may not experience any immediate side effects. The concerns are related more to the long-term consequences of colloidal silver use as particles gradually accumulate and embed themselves in organs and tissues, most especially the skin.

Over time, this can lead to a permanent, disfiguring condition called argyria in which tissues take on a bluish-gray discoloration. The gums are usually first affected, followed the skin, eyes, nails, and deeper tissue layers. Headache, fatigue, and myoclonic seizures may also occur.

Although it is unclear what toxicity silver poses to internal organs, animal studies have shown that inordinately high levels can interfere with kidney and liver function, damage the central nervous system, and instigate the release of calcium from bones. It is not known how silver affects reproduction or pregnancy, but research issued by the National Toxicology Program suggests that silver does not cause cancer.

In addition to potential health hazards, colloidal silver is known to interact with a number of medications, either by reducing their effectiveness, increasing side effects, or impairing liver function as the drug is metabolized. Possible interactions include:

• Antiarrhythmic drugs like Cordarone (amiodarone)
• Antifungals like Diflucan (fluconazole) and Sporanox (itraconazole)
• Levothyroxine, used to treat thyroid problems
• Methotrexate, used to treat autoimmune disorders
• Penicillamine, used to treat rheumatoid arthritis
• Quinolone antibiotics, including Cipro (ciprofloxacin) and Penetrex (enoxacin)
• Statin drugs like Pravachol (pravastatin) and Zocor (simvastatin)
• Tetracycline antibiotics, including Achromycin (tetracycline) and Minocin (minocycline)
• Tylenol (acetaminophen)

Other drug interactions are possible, so advise your doctor if you are taking colloidal silver, even for short-term use.

There is no safe dose of colloidal silver. Moreover, it is not known at what point silver toxicity may occur. Part of the problem is that the concentration of silver particles can vary from one brand to the next. Some contain a few as 15 parts per million (ppm) while others are in excess of 500 ppm. Age, weight, and health status can also play a part.

Despite the FDA ruling, colloidal silver products are still available as dietary supplements. Most are sold in liquid form. There are even colloidal silver generators you can buy that diffuse silver particles into water. Colloidal silver soaps, mouthwash, eye drops, body lotions, lozenges, and nasal sprays are also available.

It is important to remember that dietary supplements are not required to undergo the research or safety testing that pharmaceutical drugs do. As such, quality can vary considerably from one manufacturer to the next.

Unlike vitamin supplements, few colloidal silver products are voluntarily submitted for evaluation by an independent certifying authority like the U.S. Pharmacopeia (USP), ConsumerLab, or NSF International. As such, the consumer can be left blind as to what the product contains or how safe it is.

If colloidal silver is unsafe, why hasn't the FDA banned it?

In fact, the FDA has banned colloidal silver, but this only applies to its use as an over-the-counter medication, like aspirin.

When marketed as a dietary supplement, a product like colloidal silver does not fall under the same regulatory constraints. As long as the manufacturer does not make any health or medical claims, the product can be legally sold in the same way that vitamins, homeopathic remedies, and traditional Chinese medicines are.

That doesn't mean that manufacturers won't suggest health benefits; they often do. But many of the claims are more oblique than direct, inferring that colloidal silver can "boost immunity" or "keep you from getting sick." Other manufacturers are less subtle and will test the limits of the law by suggesting their supplement has antibiotic-like effects.