Dear Hippy Parents
Dear Well-Meaning Hippy and/or Natural Parents,
Please, please do not give your children colloidal silver as an antibiotic or cold virus treatment or prevention. This is a seriously risky thing to do. I realize that the FDA isn’t the be-all and end-all; I realize that they approve some dangerous medicines and perhaps don’t approve all effective "natural" treatments. But please, at least do your research before you give compounds to your children that could turn them BLUE and poison their brains, kidneys, and liver. Just because a good person you know says it works to shorten the duration of colds—just because some health-food store clerk sells it for $26 per 4-oz. bottle—this does NOT mean it is safe for your luscious babies.
Love,
Papa Smurf
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OK. What I really wrote to a friend who has been treating her children with this stuff is this letter containing info I culled from half a dozen websites in less than 10 minutes :
- Over-the-counter colloidal silver products are not considered by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to be generally recognized as safe and effective for diseases and conditions.
- The FDA has taken action against a number of colloidal silver companies (such as Web sites) for making drug-like claims about their products.
Silver has had some medicinal uses going back for centuries. However, more modern and less toxic drugs have eliminated most of those uses. A few prescription drugs containing silver are still available. For example, silver nitrate can be used to prevent an eye condition called conjunctivitis in newborn babies and to treat certain skin conditions, such as corns and warts. Another drug, silver sulfadizine, can be used to treat burns. These drugs are applied to the body (i.e., they are not taken internally), and they can have negative side effects.
Do colloidal silver products work?
Reviews in the scientific literature on colloidal silver products have concluded that:
o Silver has no known function in the body.
o Silver is not an essential mineral supplement or a cure-all and should not be promoted as such.
o Claims that there can be a "deficiency" of silver in the body and that such a deficiency can lead to disease are unfounded.
o Claims made about the effectiveness of colloidal silver products for numerous diseases are unsupported scientifically.
o Colloidal silver products can have serious side effects (discussed further below).
o Laboratory analysis has shown that the amounts of silver in supplements vary greatly, which can pose risks to the consumer.
What are the risks of using these products?
Animal studies have shown that silver builds up in the tissues of the body. In humans, buildup of silver from colloidal silver can lead to a side effect called argyria. It causes a bluish-gray discoloration of the skin, other organs, deep tissues, nails, and gums. Argyria cannot be treated or reversed, and it is permanent. While it is not known how argyria occurs, it is thought that silver combines with protein, forming complexes that deposit in the skin and are processed by sunlight (as in traditional photography). Other side effects from using colloidal silver products may include neurologic problems (such as seizures), kidney damage, stomach distress, headaches, fatigue, and skin irritation. Colloidal silver may interfere with the body’s absorption of the following drugs: penacillamine, quinolones, tetracyclines, and thyroxine.
Reviews in the scientific literature on colloidal silver products have concluded that:
November 6, 2008 at 6:26 pm
Eeek. It’s always been touted as a topical antibiotic with strong warnings not to ingest it. Now I see it’s being sold to ingest. Kids these days.