Silver is a toxic metal. It has antibiotic properties and kills both good and bad bacteria. It gained popularity in the days before antibiotics as a “purifier”, and this is often cited as a reason why church communal chalices were made of silver. Gold also has similar properties, and thus gold and silver dinnerware was used by those who could afford it.
Nowadays, colloidal silver is used as a home remedy for anything from eye infections to serious lung disease. Parents are encouraged to give their tiny babies and toddlers nebulized colloidal silver inhalations, spray it up their noses and in their throats, drop it in their eyes and smear it on their skins – without any definitive toxicology tests. Many of us are clueless as to the mechanisms of silver in the human body and most of us have no idea of what constitutes a fatal dose. This includes medics and homeopaths alike.
Lately a new body of evidence is emerging to show that all silver ingestion is worthy of caution. A 2014 study showed that (among other negative effects) lung function drastically decreased in lab rats given sub-chronic nano particle silver treatments:
“To further evaluate these findings, a sub-chronic 90-day inhalation study was performed by the same group [56]. Among the lung function test measurements, the tidal volume and minute volume showed a statistically significant decrease during the 90 days of AgNP exposure. Moreover, histopathological examinations indicated dose-dependent increases in lesions related to AgNP exposure, such as mixed cell infiltrate and chronic alveolar inflammation, including thickened alveolar walls and small granulomatous lesions. Their findings indicated that prolonged exposure to AgNPs can induce lung function changes, along with inflammation, at much lower mass dose concentrations, when compared to Ag microparticles.”
In plain English: when dosed daily for three months, these rats developed breathing problems related to reduced lung function, developed lesions (cuts / tears) in their lungs, had granulomas (calcification), exhibited signs of lung scarring and struggled with inflammation – even at low doses of nano-silver particles.
Some pretty definite conclusions are noted in the study:
“The available literature data strongly suggest that silver nanomaterials are a potential health hazard. Therefore, their increased production and use in consumer products must be accompanied by appropriate risk assessment processes and the design of regulatory frameworks that protect public health. (In other words, this could be very dangerous for humans, animals and environment and we shouldn’t use metals like silver indiscriminately.) In vivo studies have revealed the inflammatory potential of AgNPs in the lungs and that prolonged exposures could lead to the development of pulmonary function abnormalities. (so it can’t be all that great as a medicine to treat lung issues or sinus infections as it looks like it causes inflammation)
Following inhalation, AgNPs were discovered to translocate to the blood circulation and were subsequently distributed throughout the main organs. Meanwhile, evidence of genotoxicity has also been reported. (it can get into your bloodstream, build up anywhere in organs and even damage your DNA) Moreover, the toxicity of AgNPs has been demonstrated in vitro for several different types of alveolar cells (e.g., epithelial and macrophages). The toxicological outcomes upon exposure to Ag nanomaterials include oxidative stress, lipid peroxidation, inhibition of mitochondrial activity, damage to DNA, and cell apoptosis. However, a predictive toxicological paradigm for AgNP toxicity, which translates their in vitro cellular effects to their in vivo toxicological potential, has not been successfully established.” (We definitely know it is toxic, but we don’t have enough studies to show how much nano CS leads to toxicity in human cells)
What does this mean for consumers? Colloidal silver is not the silver lining for lung problems and can cause more stress to already compromised lungs and cells. It also shows us that Colloidal Silver nanoparticles can also be toxic.
Colloidal Silver has not been studied conclusively, and no dosage safety has been determined in humans. in rats it appears that 1mg/kg bodyweight is toxic. But as CS accumulates in the tissues, it may be hard to determine at what point you are reaching overload. Colloidal silver has not been studied on children and safety in children and babies has not been established so we cannot use silver indiscriminately and expect all to be well. It is also worthwhile noting that CS manufacturers still insist on trading it as a food supplement, so that they can bypass medical regulations for manufacture and dosage – and bypass the stringent testing required to ensure safety.
Thus your safety is not assured, but their bottom line is. Why trust companies that are prepared to take risks with your health; but not take the “risk” of ensuring their product is safe?
As silver is not an essential mineral, marketing it as a food supplement is somewhat controversial. But marketing colloidal silver as a complementary medicine for improving lung health may even be downright misleading.
In some cases, using colloidal silver has led to nephrotoxicity – and caused kidney failure. In this documented case of a woman with T cell lymphoma, her use of Colloidal Silver as a treatment for her cancer, led to her hospitalization for kidney failure.
Colloidal silver can also cause severe neurological symptoms as in this case study which stated: “This patient presented as an emergency with an aspiration pneumonia and worsening neurological sequelae of what was thought to be corticobasal degeneration. The discovery of possible silver toxicity was unexpected, as the patient had no signs suggestive of argyria, or any typical systemic indications of acute intoxication, e.g. anorexia, weakness, loss of weight, anaemia or respiratory depression”.
This highlighted another issue – this patients’ silver toxicity was only discovered after extensively questioning his wife about additional supplements he may have been taking. He was not in a position to tell his doctor anything while enduring seizures and luckily his wife was able to provide the necessary information.
Most people do not inform their medical doctors of their supplement regimes or use of alternative medicines. Unless you tell your doctor you are using colloidal silver they will not have the opportunity to observe or link any negative effects that you may be suffering as a result – and it could take longer to reach a diagnosis.
The same study goes on to name other instances where silver toxicity caused health crises: silver induced status epilepticus which caused death nine months after commencing CS treatment, convulsive seizures in a patient with schizophrenia who was using non-smoking tablets containing silver – for over 40 years, how a patient using it as a tongue drop developed severe manic depressive psychosis. In many of these cases silver deposits were found in the brains and central nervous systems during autopsy. There seems to be little doubt that silver was toxic for these people and many others.
Men should also re-think their use of colloidal silver if they plan on having a good sperm count: The use of colloidal silver drastically reduced sperm cells and interrupts sex hormones. I’ve long suspected this was the case for women as silver can play a role in destabilizing copper balance – which is an essential metal for hormone production and thyroid health. All mineral and metal supplementation is best done following a hair test to determine exact deficiencies. Many women do not realize how depression and hormone function depends on good mineral health – which of course, is optimized with functional breathing.
Many of us have seen the Smurf Man who became an internet sensation after his use of CS turned his skin an interesting shade of blue. Those “In The Know” (generally producers of CS sprays, remedies, skin creams and nose drops) put in a lot of time and money to reassure the complementary and holistic health community that this didn’t happen with their products, because theirs were made with silver nano-particles, and thus were “better” than the homemade solution that American Paul Karason, (who incidentally, died at age 62 after contracting pneumonia and suffering a stroke) had used. They all told us that Paul Karason turned blue because he made the fatal mistake of creating his own colloidal silver mix from a kit he bought online – instead of buying a properly manufactured CS remedy from a pharmacy.
But then Rosemary Jacobs came out of hiding. Rosemary had spent years trying to avoid the public spectacle she created every time she was outdoors but she became angry at how people were being misled about Colloidal Silver – even after Paul Karason’s obvious side effects came to light. Rosemary, who now advocates for awareness of the dangers of Colloidal Silver, was prescribed it as a nasal spray by her doctor for sinus infections. Her skin never recovered, and this shows that even medically prescribed, pharmacy-sold and lab-produced colloidal silver can have seriously detrimental effects.
So why use silver when it clearly carries so many risks?
Restoring Normal Breathing will also restore normal function to the best of your body’s abilities. Adding more supplements, medicines and substances simply adds more load to an already stressed system. It is quite strange that people who are exhorting us to “find Balance” are often very unbalanced about over use of supplements, minerals, vitamins and alternative remedies, often prescribing them as daily chronic treatments when there is no diagnosed disease.
Balance is Key – and this means balancing breathing, metabolism and stress to create a perfectly harmonious environment – both without and within.
©Buteyko South Africa 2018
Buteyko South Africa 
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