During the 14^th century, the black plague killed a quarter of Europe’s population. While little was done to effectively fight the plague, since no one knew the cause at the time, very few wealthy Europeans succumbed to the plague. Some suspect this is because only the wealthy could afford to eat with silverware and give their children silver pacifiers. This may have given them protection against the bacterium that caused the black plague.

American pioneers dropped silver dollars in milk to keep it fresh. While traveling, many also placed silver in their water containers to prevent them from being infected with algae or bacteria.

In the late 19^th century the German obstetrician Carl Sigmund Franz Credé made a radical breakthrough in preventing blindness through the use of silver. Where Credé worked, about twelve percent of infants born suffered from the eye disease ophthalmia neonatorum. Of those who were born from the disease, three percent were permanently blinded and about one in five suffered from some sort sight damage. Many cures had been attempted before, including applying thymol, potassium permanganate, carbolic acid, and simply washing the infant’s eyes. Credé discovered that applying a solution of silver nitrate to every infant’s eyes, the number of infants who acquired the disease dropped dramatically. The treatment soon became standard practice, and became known as the “Credé silver method.” Doctors soon began experimenting with ways to apply silver for medical purposes more effectively, and some of these experiments were published in medical journals, including the article “A Contribution to the Crede Silver Method of Wound Treatment” published in the “New England Medical Monthly” In 1899. The Credé silver method was used in the United States until the 1930’s, and continues to be used today in many other countries.

In the early part of the 20^th century, Dr. Malcolm Morris worked with silver for the treatment of several diseases and reported that it was effective in treating a variety of infections. He reported in the British Medical Journal in 1917 that silver “…has a distinctly soothing effect. It rapidly subdues inflammation and promotes healing of the lesions, it can be used with remarkable results in enlarged prostate with irritation of the bladder, in pruritis ani and perineal eczema, and in hemorrhoids.”

There were quite literally dozens of silver-based products on the market until the 1930’s. Silver began to fall out of favor in this time because of the development of synthetically manufactured drugs and antibiotics. Despite this, many pharmaceutical companies continued to produce silver based products until the 1970’s.

During World War II, many soldiers died from bacterial infection. The surgeon Dr. Charles Fox tried to find a way to effectively combat this problem, and developed silver sulfadiazine, which could be applied directly to a wound to prevent infection. The discovery proved to be very effective, and it continues to be used in hospitals today.

In the 1970’s the chairman of Washington University’s Departments of Surgery, Dr. Carl Moyer, acquired a grant to develop treatments for burn victims. One of their goals was to find an antiseptic that was powerful enough to clean large wounds, but safe enough to use in large quantities. While working with Dr. Margraf, the chief biochemist on the study, twenty-two antiseptic compounds were examined, but they were all either too toxic or not powerful enough. Dr. Margraf noticed repeated references to silver as a germ fighter in past medical literature, and decided to examine its effectiveness for himself. He used the same kind of silver used in the Credé Silver Method, a solution of diluted silver nitrate. He discovered that it killed the Pseudomonas aeruginosa bacterium, which causes the largest number of complications and fatalities in burn cases, and allowed the wound to heal faster. Silver nitrate, however, wasn’t preferred because, according to Dr. Margraf “It severely disturbs the balance of body salts, and its use must be halted from time to time. It must be applied in thick, cumbersome dressings, and stains everything it touches.” So he proceeded to test over fifty other silver compounds, and his research contributed significantly to the treatment of burns and skin ulcers.

In 1978, the popular science magazine Science Digest did a report of silver entitled “Our Mightiest Germ Fighter.” The article stated, “An antibiotic kills perhaps a half-dozen different disease organisms, but silver kills some 650. Resistant strains fail to develop. Moreover, silver is virtually non-toxic.”

In the 1990’s the Chinese government began researching silver to develop a powerful antiseptic. Their research helped develop a silver-based compound that could sterilize surfaces for extended periods of time without posing any toxic threat to humans.

Many companies use silver for it antibacterial properties. Samsung released a line of washing machines in the early 21^st century with what it calls “SilverCare technology,” which injects silver into the wash cycle to disinfect clothing. Many airlines use silver to purify water during a flight. Some use silver as alternative to chlorine to disinfect pools.

Today, the FDA approves a few uses of silver for medical use. Silver sulfadiazine, which is sold under the name Silvadene, is used in burn wards to protect burns from bacterial infections. Silver infused bandages can also be used to help accelerate the healing of wounds. Many hospitals have installed silver-based water purifying systems to combat Legionnaire’s disease.

Silver colloids can also be purchased online and in health food stores. Modern colloidal silver solutions can be manufactured with a much greater degree of exactitude than those produced in the early 20^th century, which may lead to greater effectiveness of silver’s believed benefits.

Typically, doctors will treat upper respiratory tract infection with prescription antibiotics. According to the 2005 article “Antibiotics for acute laryngitis in adults” published in The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, antibiotics are ineffective for the treatment of laryngitis, a kind of respiratory tract infection. The summary states that the few benefits that do exist for the prescription of antibiotics for laryngitis are “not relevant in clinical practice as the modest benefits from antibiotics may not outweigh their cost, adverse effects, or negative consequences on antibiotic resistance patterns.” The “adverse affects” referred to in the article are the many unpleasant side effects of antibiotics, which include diarrhea, fever, nausea, interactions with drugs, a weakened immune system, and fungal infection.

Many have found benefit in the use of colloidal silver for the treatment of upper respiratory tract infection. Colloidal silver is a solution of microscopic particles of silver suspended in water. Almost every major civilization with access to silver have used the metal for its germ fighting capabilities, and modern hospitals harness it too in the form of water filters, antibacterial bandages, and antibacterial creams.

Colloidal silver is believed to work by essentially “choking” harmful bacterial cells. When silver comes into the proximity of harmful bacteria, it disrupts an enzyme that it needs in order to process oxygen properly. Without oxygen, the bacteria quickly die. Colloidal silver is thought to be able to kill harmful bacteria while leaving healthy tissue and cells untouched because cells that are natural to the body have a much thicker cell wall than bacteria cells.

This supplement can be taken orally, but as a treatment for upper respiratory tract infection the use of a nebulizer will maximize the colloidal silver benefits. A nebulizer is a medical device that pumps air into a liquid and turns it into a fine mist for inhaling. Inhaling the colloidal silver directly into the lungs will apply the product directly the infected area, which is believed to reduce the amount of time needed for a successful treatment. Some who suffer from reoccurring sinus infections choose to regularly use the nebulizer even after the infection has subsided to support their immune system.

Anyone who wishes to take colloidal silver as a treatment for a upper respiratory tract infection should be aware that different silver products can have varying levels of effectiveness. In particular, patients should avoid ionic silver solutions. A silver ion is very unstable, and can easily bond with chemicals in the body, most typically chloride. This creates silver chloride, a useless compound. True colloidal silver is much more stable, and retains silver’s well-documented antibacterial properties after it has entered the body. Some producers of ionic silver solutions choose to disclose that they only sell ionic silver, but others do not. One can observe whether or not their silver product is ionic silver simply by looking at the color of the liquid. If it is perfectly clear, it is ionic silver.

My 16 month old son contracted a condition where his penis was inflamed at the tip on a Saturday morning. He was in an extreme amount of discomfort and cried in agony whenever we changed his diaper. We called our doctor to give him the description of the problem. He felt that it was most likely Balanitis and should be treated with antibiotics immediately.

Considering it was the weekend, we were faced with packing up and heading to the emergency room. We’ve dealt with the emergency room process and that is certainly no fun for anyone plus I couldn’t help but feel it was overkill. Any time a doctor wants to treat a condition with antibiotics, I immediately start thinking of other solutions. I have had excellent results with true colloidal silver in treating bronchial issues. I’ve also had good luck killing a stubborn cyst when no other homeopathic treatment would work. I had read that silver works great topically to kill infections as well so I felt it was worth a shot.

Every hour or two we bathed our son and applied colloidal silverto the infected area. The next morning, less than 24 hours, the inflammation had all but subsided. We managed to save ourselves unnecessary immune system damage by taking antibiotics and freed up the emergency room staff for folks who really needed medical help. I’m a true believer that colloidal silver can kill many infections our doctors are so eager to use antibiotics to manage.

John P. - Denver

You may have seen Paul Karason, the guy who the media reports turned blue from taking silver by rubbing it on his skin. In the most recent report issued by CNN the subject was actually making a solution of ionic silver in his home and ingesting it as well as applying it to his skin. He was not taking colloidal silver as the irresponsible report stated. Unfortunately, Paul bought a generator a result of watching an infomercial that “electrolyzes” water.

Manufacturers of true colloidal silver have warned of the risk associated with making using solutions of silver protein and solutions of silver ions from kits for years. To learn about the nature of many of the more common silver products go to: http://www.silver-colloids.com/Reports/reports.html Pay particular attention to the classification as either 1) colloidal silver, 2) ionic silver, or 3) mild silver protein.

Many sufferers of candida yeast infection have found a great deal of success in using colloidal silver. Colloidal silver is a solution of microscopic silver particles that are held in suspension in distilled water. Silver has been used as an antibiotic for millennia, and modern hospitals contain supplies infused with silver to help wounds and burns heal faster. As a colloid, patients can take it orally to harness silver’s well documented germ fighting capabilities.

Colloidal silver is believed to fight yeast infections symptoms in a few major ways. Colloidal silver is designed to help boost the immune system, which is vital for effectively fighting any fungal infection. In fact, if a patient has a particularly weak immune system, the infection may become very aggressive and spread very quickly, leading to serious illness or possibly even death. Colloidal silver is believed to help the immune system during a yeast infection by destroying harmful bacteria, allowing the immune system to concentrate its energies on fighting the fungal infection. While it kills these harmful bacteria, it leaves the helpful bacteria intact which may make it an ideal yeast infection treatment. This is essential to fighting a fungal infection because some bacteria play a major beneficial role. This falls in stark contrast to prescription antibiotics, which are sometimes mistakenly prescribed to candidiasis suffers when a doctor mistakenly believes the patient has a bacterial infection. Antibiotics kill helpful bacteria along with harmful pathogens. In fact, many people acquire fungal infections while taking antibiotics because it kills these necessary bacteria.

If you are interested in taking colloidal silver as a yeast infection cure, it is important to know that not all silver colloids are the same. They differ in content and concentration. Make sure the colloidal silver you are purchasing is true colloidal silver, and not an ionic silver solution. Ionic silver is extremely volatile, and may bond with chloride in your body, turning into a useless compound. You can tell if a silver solution is ionic silver if it is crystal clear. One should also make certain that it is not protein bound silver. One can tell this simply by researching whether or not a silver product requires refrigeration. This is a sign that other unnecessary products have been added to silver the solution. Lastly, one should also examine the silver concentration in parts per million.

Occasionally, the superficial redness may be a sign of a bacterial infection on the deeper layers of skin. Once the bacteria penetrate your skin, it may enter your bloodstream and lymph modes, and proceed to spread rapidly throughout your body. Occasionally, the bacteria can even penetrate down into the “fascial lining” of your skin. This is when the infection can turn very serious.

Those most susceptible to cellulitis are those with a weakened immune system, such as the elderly and people suffering from diabetes and HIV. Typically, doctors will prescribe antibiotic ointment, an oral antibiotic, or a combination of the two to treat cellulitis symptoms. If the doctor suspects that that the bacteria have entered the bloodstream, they may even require hospitalization to administer an intravenous antibiotic.

Since antibiotics kill “good” bacteria along with the “bad,” and weaken the immune system, they are associated with numerous unpleasant side effects. When the antibiotics kill the natural intestinal flora, patients usually suffer diarrhea. Patients commonly also experience fungal infections in the mouth, digestive tract, or vagina. Less common, but more serious side effects include abnormal blood clotting, the formation of kidney stones, sensitivity to the sun, and deafness. Elderly patients who take antibiotics may suffer from an inflamed bowel, which may lead to severe diarrhea. Because of these side affects, doctors sometimes avoid the use of antibiotics in people with reduced kidney or liver function.

Many users have testified that true colloidal silver is an effective cellulitis treatment. If the claims are true, then it has major advantages over antibiotics because it does not weaken the immune system, does not interact with other medications, and has no known side effects when taken at the correct dosage. Based on testimonials and tests conducted by independent laboratories, colloidal silver appears to work as a natural antibiotic by cutting off the bacteria’s oxygen supply. Colloidal silver users believe that reason it is able to kill the bacteria that causes cellulitis while leaving the bacteria that help regulate the body’s natural function is because “good” bacteria have a thicker cell wall. When using colloidal silver to treat cellulitis, patients usually apply the product directly to the infected area to kill any superficial bacteria and take the silver orally to kill any internal infection and prevent the cellulitis from reoccurring.

Patients should be aware, however, that not all colloidal silver products are the same. In fact, some products that are marketed as colloidal silver are actually ionic silver solutions, which are much less effective. True colloidal silver has a high silver particle density and small particle size, helping ensure maximum effectiveness. Sufferers of cellulitis should be cautious, however, as some companies give misleading information about density and particle size. To test whether or not a product in ionic silver or not, simply note the color of the liquid. If it is perfectly clear like water, it is certainly not true colloidal silver.

However, far too often, doctors prescribe antibiotics for conditions that are most likely viral. Very commonly doctors will attempt to treat bronchitis with antibiotics, even though multiple studies have suggested that antibiotics are ineffective. This has been an ongoing problem, even though any first year medical student knows that antibiotics are designed to treat bacterial infections, not viral. Fortunately, there have been numerous reports demonstrating how true colloidal silver fights infection.

Why do such highly trained men and women error so constantly in the treatment of bronchitis? The answer is many fold. Firstly, a small minority of bronchitis cases involve a bacterial pathogen. So when a doctor, knowing this, observes bronchitis symptoms, they may “suspect” for whatever reason that this particular bronchitis case is being caused by bacteria, and proceed to prescribe antibiotics. And if in the (very likely) instance it is actually viral, the patient takes antibiotics for nothing, while possibly subjecting themselves to unpleasant antibiotic side effects in the process. Secondly, doctors may feel pressured by their patients to issue a prescription. Many patients have been trained by pharmaceutical ads to believe that there is pill for every ailment, and may have a tough time accepting that the only thing the doctor can do is alleviate the symptoms. It may be difficult to believe that medical professionals would allow themselves to be bullied into giving ineffectual prescriptions in this way, but this strange phenomenon has been documented in medical studies. A study that dealt with the over prescription of antibiotics for bronchitis titled “Azithromycin for acute bronchitis” published in 2002 in the prestigious medical journal “The Lancet” stated that “Many patients with acute bronchitis require their physicians to ‘do something.’ “ The same study stated that doctors should not treat bronchitis with the “defensive use of ineffective antibiotics.”

So if nothing a doctor can prescribe can deal with the root viral cause, what can one do? Many have found that simply taking care of one’s immune system is an effective way to deal to with bronchitis. Countless people have testified upon the effectives of one supplement in particular: colloidal silver. Colloidal silver can be taken orally, but many have claimed success in fighting bronchitis by taking colloidal silver through a nebulizer. A nebulizer is a medical device that would allow someone to inhale the colloidal silver in a mist form. This may be more effective because the supplement is therefore being applied directly to the infected area.

“I began a maintenance program of Mesosilver in the fall. Usually, by October, I experience colds, sore throats, and respiratory infections leading to asthma. This year, however, was very different. In January, at the height of the flu season, I experienced what I though to be the start of flu symptoms. I made a visit to the doctor, but in a short time, all my symptoms disappeared. My doctor, who knows my medical history very well, was amazed. I told her about my Mesosilver program and she was very impressed. She had heard about the use of silver colloids and recommended that I continue with the Mesosilver.

This is the first winter I have made it through without a trip to the ER. I will continue to take Mesosilver throughout the year, and I will strongly recommend it to all of my friends and relatives.” - C.A., Brick, NJ

* The Mesosilver recommendation made by the doctor has not been substantiated.

My symptoms grew progressively worse over the years, and when I finally went to see my hepatitis specialist in April of this year, he did a blood test and found that my viral load was 3 million!

The doctor told me it was time to go on the medicine, so I began taking Interferon shots once a week and taking the pill every day. This treatment basically destroyed my life and the lives of everyone around me. Not only did I have an allergic reaction to the medication, which gave me a terrible skin rash that turned my skin to leather and caused terrible itching, but I became so tired I literally could not get out of bed most days. Walking up the stairs, I’d be completely winded. Worst of all, though, was my depression; I was angry and cranky and depressed and unhappy and though I understood it was because of the medicine, I couldn’t help it. I was awful to be around. My husband, son and grandchildren could barely tolerate me; and I could hardly stand myself! My life was miserable and so were the lives of everyone near me. It was intolerable.

When I went back to the doctor and asked if there were any alternatives, he told me there was one other shot he could give me, but that the results were marginal and the side effects were the same. “What if I do nothing?” I asked him. “You’ll eventually die,” was his response. I asked him how long he’d give me and he said he didn’t know: it could be six weeks, six months, six years, it just varied by individuals.

I left his office devastated, depressed and in shock. I was 55 years old and facing death. I began to talk about getting my affairs in order, doing a will, etc., but my husband just couldn’t accept that. He insisted I was NOT going to die and he went on the Internet to research the situation. He came home one day with 14 alternative hepatitis c treatments. I read them all, but the Mesosilver is what caught my eye - mostly because it looked easy, no hassle, no fuss, no side effects, no complicated preparations.

So I called to order a few bottles. When I spoke to the owner he asked me if I had read the testimonials from other Hepatitis C clients. I said, “Yeah, I read them, but I don’t trust them. I’ve been in sales and I know you can get testimonials to say anything. I’ll have to see for myself.” I was also a little concerned about the cost, but compared to the value of my life, really, it was nothing.

I started taking the Mesosilver in April. The funny thing is, I misunderstood the directions and began taking four teaspoons a day instead of four tablespoons. Even so, within two weeks of starting the Mesosilver, I couldn’t believe the change in the way I felt. I wasn’t nearly as tired, wasn’t sleeping nearly as much, had lots more energy and my breathing was really improved.

After five weeks on Mesosilver, I went for a blood test on May 23rd (this time with our new family doctor) and when I got the results a week later, my viral load was down from 3 million to 171,000! That’s a 95% improvement in five weeks! I was elated!! More importantly, I felt really good, I was on the go again, doing housework, doing laundry, gardening again (which I had really missed), not sleeping nearly as much and basically sort of back to my normal routine. And this was still on only a third of the recommended dose!

On July 7th, I went for another blood test. When we got the results on the 16th, the viral load was down to 12,500! My new doctor and I were practically dancing around the room. We couldn’t believe there had been this big a drop again! And my life is pretty much back to normal. I’m up at 6:00 or 7:00. I keep going all day and don’t even take naps!

My family doctor said we should wait until the end of the year to do the next blood test, and we’re betting the Hep C will be completely gone by then.

(As a side note, when I first got the Mesosilver information, I asked my Hep C specialist about it. His response was, “If you want to waste your money on snake oil treatments, I don’t care.” I’ve not been back to him since I’m down to 12,500 and still improving.)

This Mesosilver is just fantastic. I want to tell everyone I know about it. I’m thinking I should even become a distributor! It’s really amazing. And it wasn’t until just last Friday, I discovered my dosage error, and begun taking four tablespoons instead of four teaspoons.

If I’m feeling this good at one-third the recommended dosage, imagine how wonderful I’m going to feel at full dosage!

By the way, I also have Lupus - well, at least I HAD lupus. I don’t know if I even still have it. In fact, I doubt it. I think the Mesosilver probably took care of it as well because I haven’t been sick a single day since I started on the Mesosilver.

Mesosilver is just fantastic. It saved my life and I recommend it to everybody!”

Linda M, 55