COLLOIDAL SILVER

"Silver is the best all around germ-fighter we have." This statement was made by Harry Margraf, Ph.D of Washington University. His research showed that silver was bactericidal to some 650 different disease organisms and resistant strains failed to develop.

The biggest killer in burn cases -- a greenish blue bacterium called Pseudomonas aeruginosa -- is killed by silver preparations. One such compound is silver sulfadiazine developed by Dr. Charles Fox of Columbia University. It has been marketed under the brand name of Silvadene and is used in the treatment of burns.¹

One or two drops of a 1% silver nitrate ophthalmic solution had been used for many years in the conjunctival sacs of newborn infants and was effective as a prophylaxis against gonorrheal ophthalmia neonatorum. It has been replaced by antibiotic ophthalmic preparations that are less irritating.²

In ancient Greece and Rome, people used silver containers to keep liquids fresh. They didn't know why silver containers seemed to prevent spoilage, but since it worked, they used it. American settlers travelling through the west often put a silver dollar in milk to delay its spoiling. Again, they didn't know why, but it worked.³

Silver water filters are used in the water systems of some airlines. The Swiss government approved silver water filters for use in homes and offices throughout the country. NASA selected a silver system for the space shuttle. Silver is widely used to purify swimming pool water and it doesn't sting the eyes as chlorine does.¹

In 1988, Dr. Larry Ford, M.D. of UCLA tested a colloidal silver preparation and found it to be antibacterial for concentrations of 100,000 organisms per ml. of Streptococcus pyogenes, Staphlococcus aureus, Neisseria gonorrhea, Gardnerella vaginalis, Salmonella typhi, and other enteric pathogens and fungicidal for Candida albicans, Candida globata, and M. furfur. No mention was made of any bacteria that were resistant to the colloidal silver.⁴

Colloidal silver preparations were used in the early part of the 20th century. C.E.A. MacLeodin a publication in 1919 reports that colloidal silver was used with success in treating, "Septic and follicular tonsilitis, Vincent's angina, phlyctenular conjunctivitis, gonorrheal conjunctivitis, spring catarrh, impetigo (contagious acne of face and body), septic ulcers of legs, ringworm of body, tinea versicolor, soft sores, suppurative appendicitis after operation (the wounds cleaned rapidly), pustular eczema of scalp and pubes, chronic eczema of meatus of ear with recurrent boils, and also chronic eczema of anterior nares, offensive discharge in case of chronic suppuration in otitis media, bromidrosis of feet, axillae and blind boils of neck.⁵

The above reference is only one of many from the medical literature of this period that report successful treatment of a variety of infectious diseases. Enlarged prostates were also treated.⁶

Dr. Henry Crooks writes, "Silver in the colloidal state is highly germicidal, quite harmless to humans and absolutely non-toxic. Rather than in a chemical compound, the silver in a colloidal state may be applied in a much more concentrated form, with correspondingly better results. All virus, fungus, bacterium, streptococcus, staphylococcus, and other pathogenic organisms are killed in three or four minutes upon contact. In fact there is no microbe known that is not killed by colloidal silver in six minutes or less at a dilution of as little as 5 ppm, and there are no side effects whatsoever from the highest concentration."

In the British Medical Journals from the 1917's and 18's colloidal silver was considered an excellent replacement for silver nitrate because it was non-corrosive, caused no pain, left no stain, did not have to be terminated periodically, and could be applied without the use of heavy dressings. The problem with colloidal silver was that it was difficult to produce and, consequently, outrageously expensive and only used if the patient had a strong negative reaction to silver nitrate.³

In reviewing medical literature, Dr. Harry Margraf found repeated references to silver. It is described as a catalyst that disables the enzymes which microorganisms depend on to breathe. Consequently, they die.¹

Silver fell out of use in the 1930's for several reasons.

(1) The occurance of argyria, a blue skin discoloration as a consequence of prolonged administration of silver compounds. A small proportion of the silver compound is absorbed and deposited in the skin, where it is reduced by light to metallic silver. The resulting argyria persists almost indefinitely although there are no associated toxic effects.² Colloidal silver is the only known form that is not deposited under the skin or in the organs even with overdoses.⁵ Any excess is excreted through the kidneys.

(2) It was terribly expensive and most if not all colloidal silver products were inferior compared to the colloidal silver that has become available in the past few years. In the early 1900's the silver particle size in the then available colloidal preparations never reached its optimum ultra-microscopic size to achieve maximum effectiveness. Table 1 shows the relative sizes in microns of silver particles in a true colloid compared to other microscopic particles. μ = micron

(3) The advent of the sulfonimides in the 1930's and the pencillins during World War II contributed to the reduction of the use of silver.

Only a few years ago, you couldn't find any form of colloidal silver in the marketplace. More and more forms are appearing on the shelves and are being marketed by various methods.

In 1978, a Russian scientist, S. S. Voyutshy⁸ wrote in his book on colloidal chemistry that the size of the particle played a major role in distinguishing one system (solution) from another. See Table 2.⁸ The range of particle sizes in a true colloid measured by Voyutshy matches up with those that were calculated 50 years earlier and that is 1 to 100 nanometers. A nanometer is one-billionth of a meter or one-millionth of a millimeter. The biological activity of particles is related to their total surface area. Table 2 shows how the total surface area of the particles increases as the size decreases and the number of particles increases. The highest quality colloidal silver would consist of the maximum number of particles of the minimum size. If particles are visible in the solution or if they settle out on standing their size falls outside the true colloidal system and their biological activity would be markedly reduced. The number of silver particles varies according to the cube of their size, so that if their radius is reduced by fifty percent their overall number is multiplied by eight. This can be shown from the formula for the volume of a sphere. (V = 4Πr³ /3)

It is fairly easy to distinguish a true colloidal silver from a counterfeit. Is the manufacturer registered with the FDA and is the FDA identification number printed on the label? Is the product a clear golden color without any visible particulate matter or sediment on the bottom? Are there any ingredients listed other than silver and water? If the contents include a stabilizer or even some measurable amounts of trace elements, that should give some clue about the product. Is the container opaque? (silver compounds are affected by light.)

A product that meets all the criteria of a true silver colloid is made by Silverado Research, Inc., of Bountiful, Utah.

A. Human Red Blood corpuscles (diameter 7.5μ, thickness 1.6μ). B. Fragment of rice starch granule (according to v. Hohnel) 3 - 8μ C. Particles in a kaolin suspension. D. Anthrax Bacillus (length 4 - 15μ. width about 1μ). E. Cocci (diameter about 0.5μ - 1μ, rarely 2μ). f, g, h. Particles of colloidal silver solutions (0.006 - 0.015μ). i, j, k. Particles from settled silver suspensions (1.075 - 0.2μ).

BENIGN PROSTRATIC HYPERTROPHY

The prostate gland in the male child is very small but enlarges rapidly at puberty and then remains a constant size until about age 45. At that time, the gland undergoes benign enlargement, or it atrophies. Hyperplasia of both epithelial and stromal elements produce the changes of benign prostatic hypertrophy (BPH). The etiology of these changes is unknown.⁹

BPH is the most common benign neoplasm in aging men. The prevalence increases progressively. By age 60, prevalence is greater than 50 percent, and by age 85, approximately 90 percent of men will have evidence of BPH. About half of these men will eventually have clinical enlargement of the gland, and approximately half of those will progress to clinical symptoms of prostatism requiring treatment.

It is estimated that one in every four men in the United States will require treatment for the relief of symptomatic BPH by age 80. More than 300,000 surgical procedures for BPH are currently performed annually in the United States, most commonly transurethral resection of the prostate (TURP).

Symptoms of prostatism include frequency of urination, nocturia, weak stream, intermittent stream and a sensation of incomplete emptying. An individual may experience one or more symptoms. Symptoms of prostatism are due to the direct effects of obstruction of urinary flow (for example weak stream) and to secondary changes in bladder function (such as urgency of urination, frequency or nocturia). Palpable prostate enlargement is common. However prostate size does not correlate with the degree of obstruction or the severity of symptoms.¹⁰

Because of the ease of measuring the number of times an individual gets up at night to urinate, nocturia is the primary parameter used in this study.

CASE STUDIES

Case #1

65 year old Caucasian male retired electrical engineer with progressive symptoms of prostatism over the previous ten years. This began with nocturia and reduction in size of the urine stream. At age 57 a rectal examination showed an enlarged prostate gland. At age 65 the nocturia had increased to 7 to 8 times each night, his stream size had decreased considerably with increased dribbling, urgency, and difficulty starting. It became necessary to have an indwelling catheter inserted which was left in place for three weeks at which time he removed it and catheterized himself as needed.

At that time he mentioned his problem to a distant relative retired country doctor who told him to either take some colloidal silver or have surgery. He located some colloidal silver which cost over $100.00 per ounce. Motivated by the enormous cost and having had forty years of experience in process engineering he proceeded to make his own colloidal silver.

In 1983 using an electrolytic method he was able to produce a crude colloidal silver that was gray in color and contained about 500 ppm of silver in water. On standing much of the silver in this product would settle to the bottom as most of the particles were too large and thus essentially inert. He began using this product himself and within a few weeks was improving. With the assistance of other engineers he was able over the next 8 years to refine the process to a continuous flow and produce a true colloid which contains 6 to 8 ppm of silver in demineralized water. This colloidal solution is a clear golden color and the silver particles stay suspended in solution indefinitely.

Now at age 74 having used the colloidal silver as the process was perfected, he gets up at night only occasionally, his stream size is now normal and he has no urgency, dribbling or difficulty starting his stream.

Case #2

66 year old Caucasian male with progressive symptoms of prostatism over the previous three years. This reached a point at which time he would get up 5 to 6 times each night with a weak stream and difficulty starting. He had considerable dribbling and was concerned that he might have to be catheterized. He was started on Lisinopril 20 mgm each day then switched to Enalapril 10 mgm daily for hypertension neither of which significantly lowered his blood pressure. He later started on Cardura which lowered his blood pressure somewhat and decreased the nocturia to 1 to 2 times each night. While on the cardura he began having difficulty breathing especially when he would lie down. It became necessary for him to sit up at night. Diuretics helped only slightly. A definitive diagnosis was not made in spite of a complete medical evaluation including an angiogram which was normal. He felt like he was going to die and hoped to survive a few months so he could spend Christmas with his family.

The individual described in case #1 had encouraged him to try colloidal silver which he decided to do after a few months. He started on a tablespoon three times a day and would spray some into his nostrils 3 or 4 times a day. He stopped the Cardura and the diuretics when he started the colloidal silver.

Within a few days the nocturia stopped and his breathing improved enabling him to sleep in bed. He no longer has any dribbling, or difficulty starting his urine stream and his stream size has returned to normal. He has been on the colloidal silver (one teaspoon twice a day) for the past year and now feels better than he has for twenty years.

Case #3

64 year old Caucasian male (author of this article) with mild symptoms of prostatism over a period of a few years with decreased size of stream, occasional dribbling and nocturia at least one time every night and sometimes 2 or 3 times. Impressed by the accounts of the individuals in Case #1 and #2 he decided to try the colloidal silver and started with one to two teaspoons every morning. Within a week the urine stream had increased in size, the dribbling had ceased and the nocturia had stopped.

CLINICAL STUDY

Because of the case histories reported above and the positive experience of myself and several other men who had some symptoms of prostatism and had previously tried the colloidal silver, I designed and implemented the following double blind study with an extended follow-up.

Candidates were obtained by placing an advertisement in two different local newspapers. The ad was for men over 50 years of age who get up two or more times each night to urinate. Four men responded to the ads and one was disqualified because of a history of a total prostatectomy. It was determined then to obtain additional volunteers by telephone. Thirty-nine men of appropriate age were called in order to obtain 19 who had developed nocturia (one or more times each night) over the past several years. With the three responding to the ads we began the study with 22 men.

A brief medical history including symptoms of prostatism was obtained from each volunteer. Every man was having nocturia at least one time each night. Blood pressure, urinalysis, and rectal examination were also performed. Each person was provided with eight ounces of colloidal silver or a colored water placebo that was supplied by Silverado Research, Inc., of Bountiful, Utah. Approximately 1/3 of the preparations provided were to be placebos. The bottles were numbered and neither the physician nor the participant knew who received the colloidal silver and who received the placebo. One teaspoon of the preparation was to be taken each morning and evening. If a dose was missed the next dose was to be doubled. The participants, many of whom knew one another, were asked to not discuss the study with anyone else until the results were obtained.

The age of the participants ranged from 50 to 82 with a mean age of 61.9 years. Nocturia ranged from one to five times a night. Five had nocturia one time each night, six would get up once or twice at night, and eleven experienced nocturia two or more times each night. Eleven had observed their stream size being smaller, fifteen had experienced some dribbling, and six noted occasional difficulty in starting the stream. Four had no symptoms other than the nocturia. Two participants had a history of a transurethral resection of the prostate (TURP).

A rectal examination was performed on all but two participants. Three had prostates of normal size, nine had slight enlargement, five had moderate enlargement and three had marked enlargement. Slight tenderness was noted in four cases.

A urine sample was obtained from all but two of the subjects. Dip stick in one case showed 1+ glucose. This individual has mild diabetes mellitus and is taking a low dose oral hypoglycemic. All other urinalysis were normal.

The duration of the double blind study was from 19 to 23 days with one exception of 10 days for a late entry. At the end of the study the participants were again interviewed. Four men reported considerable improvement in the nocturia with a reduction from 2 to 4 times to one time each night. Six others noted some improvement in the nocturia.

After the data was obtained the supplier provided the code which enabled us to determine who was receiving the colloidal silver and who was receiving the placebo. Of the 22 men in the study 15 were taking colloidal silver and 7 were on the placebo. The four men with marked improvement were all on the colloidal silver. Five of the other six were on colloidal silver. One person on the placebo had reported slight improvement. The two men with a history of TURP were on colloidal silver and did not report any improvement.

All the individuals were interested in continuing on the colloidal silver and the manufacturer supplied enough so each person could take one teaspoon each day for the next eight weeks.

The participants were again interviewed after about four more weeks and each completed the American Urological Association Symptom Index.¹⁰ (See Table 3) One index representing the symptoms at the time of the interview and the other representing the symptoms experienced before starting the colloidal silver.

Table 3

However, the improvement in all five was in the area of decreased nocturia. Two of the five had no other symptoms other than nocturia. All of the other 11 also reported decreased nocturia. Nine of the participants reported a 3 to 10 point improvement in their index. One of these individuals had been taking Hytrin for BPH with already some improvement of his nocturia before starting the colloidal silver. The remaining two had 14 and 18 point improvements with nocturia decreasing by 3 and 2 times respectively. One of these two volunteered the information that his libido had increased and his sexual gratification had markedly improved.

Five reported no improvement during the study. Two of these had a history of TURP. One had been taking Hytrin for the past six months and his nocturia had already improved to one time each night. One had been having his symptoms for over 15 years and on initial examination had an enlarged lumpy prostate. The last one without improvement had a slightly enlarged prostate and had been having symptoms for six years.

A comparison of other medical treatment options for benign prostatic hypertrophy with the results of this study are presented in Table 4.¹¹

Table 4

Balance Sheet for BPH Treatment Options
Treatment outcomes	Watchful waiting	Alpha blockers	Finasteride (Proscar)	Colloidal silver study
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
Chance for improvement of symptoms	31-55%	59-86%	54-78%	89%
Degree of improvement	Unknown	51%	31%	54%
Treatment morbidity and/or complications	1-5% BPH progression	2.9-43.3%	13.6-18.8%	0
Risk of Impotence	about 2%	Unknown	2.5-5.3%	5% Improved
Cost of medication 30 day supply	0	$30.95 to $39.95	$58.95	$25.00 to $37.44

CONCLUSION

In this study men were assumed to have BPH because of their age and the onset of symptoms in recent years. There is no attempt to explain the mode of action of colloidal silver and why its use resulted in reduction of symptoms in 76% of the subjects, 89% if the two with TURP history and the one with marked previous improvement on Hytrin are removed from the study. In either case the results are quite remarkable and merit further investigation by the medical community.

REFERENCES

1.	Powell, Jim, "Our Mightiest Germ Fighter", Science Digest, (March 1978).
2.	Drill, Victor A., Pharmacology in Medicine, (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1958), pp. 795, 1097.
3.	Helpful News, Volume 9, Number 3, (Springville, Utah: Higher Education Library Publishers, 1993), p. 2
4.	Larry C. Ford, M.D., UCLA School of Medicine, to Harold, 1 November 1988. Copy in hand of Herb Bales, Orem, Utah.
5.	Searle, A. B., The Use of Colloids in Health and Disease, (New York: E. P. Dutton & Company, 1919), p. 83.
6.	Ibid., p. 85
7.	Ibid., p. 70
8.	Voyutshy, S., Colloid Chemistry, translated by Bobrov, N., (Moscow: Mir Publishers), p. 21.
9.	O'Brien, Walter M., "Benign Prostatic Hypertrophy," American Family Physician (July 1991), p. 162.
10.	Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia Guideline Panel, "Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia: Diagnosis and Treatment", American Family Physician (April 1994), p. 1157, 1158.
11.	Ibid., pp. 1164, 1165