>From:    [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Colloidal silver use in ferrets
 
Unfortunately there is little ferret specific in this post nor the
one to which it responds.  There is NO scientific research on
the benefits of colloidal silver in ferrets.  Just anecdotal beliefs.
 
My information was from the FDA.  That is a much more reliable source than
ANY I have seen promoting colloidal silver.
 
>First off, I just have to say that I was amused to see three or four
>instances of non-specific symptoms such as sleeplessness, vomiting, and
>lethargy cited as "medical research"
 
Those were not listed as 'medical research'.  Check.  I listed them as
reported problems.
 
Your off handed remark about those specific problems from the specific
products you mention seems off hand and not thought out carefully.  Aspirin
does cause stomach upset.  I've never heard any other specific connection
between drugs and symptoms you mention.
 
>I don't think three or four isolated incidents prove much of anything.
 
That was one month.  There are other reports for other months.
 
>First of all, colloidal silver has been in use for thousands of years
 
No.  It hasn't.  All silver is not colloidal silver.  There are medical
uses for silver but as an external antiseptic.  Not everything that kills
germs is an antibiotic.  Something used outside of the body is not likely
to be termed an antibiotic.
 
Your own data backs not colloidal silver as an internal medicine but other
uses of silver in a topical application.
 
>The EPA's Poison Control Center lists no toxicity listing for colloidal
>silver.
 
I checked with the EPA's web site.  Your information is not exactly
correct.
 
http://www.epa.gov/ngispgm3/iris/subst/0099.htm
 
Argyria (named after silver itself) is a critical effect from overdoses of
silver orally.  That corresponds exactly with the FDAs warnings of the same
condition in strongly coming out against colloidal silver.  The EPA warning
is from studies from 1935 specifically mentioning colloidal silver.  If you
don't mind being permanently and completely colored blue though you don't
apparently have to worry about it.  Well except for this next bit.
 
Toxic effects from silver are for the cardiovascular system and the hepatic
system.
 
But for what its worth.  The EPA has no toxicity listing for heroin either.
I checked.  The EPA is NOT a watchdog organization for medicines.  Thats
why I first went to the FDA.
 
>According to Robert Beck, M.D. (author of The Body Electric) colloidal
>silver has also not been linked to the argyria (discoloration of the skin)
 
Thatsinteresting.  The EPA specifically stated "Gaul and Staud (1935)
reported 70 cases of generalized argyria following organic and colloidal
silver medication".  Argyria used to be much more common before the advent
of antibiotics.
 
Robert Beck is also NOT an M.D.  He's a physicist NOT a physician.  His own
'fans' acknowledge that he is not legally permitted to dispense medical
advice.  My credentials are apparently as good as his as a medical expert.
I'm not a medical expert.  But my resume reads as well or better than
Beck's.  (http://www.ioa.com/~dragonfly/morebeck.html)
 
I hope that clears up that colloidal silver is not the 'wonder drug' that
some proponents state.  If it was then it WOULD be widely accepted by the
whole medical community.  Some make comments about drug companies
controlling the situation.  But that doesn't mesh with the fact that simple
lythium is the most widely accepted and prescribed medicine for bipolar
depression.  Drug companies sell competing drugs for hundreds of dollars
but most patients use a seven dollar lithium prescription.
 
-bill
 
--
bill and diane killian
zen and the art of ferrets
http://www.zenferret.com/
mailto:[log in to unmask]
[Posted in FML issue 2561]