Charlene Lowe provided some useful references on colloidal silver that I
will look up when I have an opportunity.  With only one or two exceptions,
all were from peer-reviewed journals that are still published.  Although I
don't want to turn this into a perpetual thread on the FML, I'd like to
clarify a few points.
 
    Charlene stressed the need to avoid overdosing with colloidal silver
despite the minimal reported toxicity of "pure" CS (i.e., no contaminants).
But she also indicated that CS does little harm to beneficial bacteria in
the gut.  From what I have read of CS so far, it's broad spectrum of
activity would *not* be limited to pathogenic bugs.  Drugs cannot think.
And, biologically, helpful and harmful microbes are not fundamentally
different.  To be as broadly effective against so many different organisms,
it is not logical to assume that CS would not wipe out lots of organisms.
To me, this means that chronic treatment with CS could also inhibit (or
kill?) the flora that helps in digestion and absorption of nutrients.  If a
ferret were treated with a short course of CS, it might be wise to try to
recolonize the GI flora as one might do following treatment with a
broad-spectrum cephalosporin.
 
    Although I haven't gotten down to reading textbooks and journal articles
on the metabolism of silver, I found no evidence whatsoever that silver is a
required part of any human [or ferret] diet or that "silver deficiency" is a
real entity.  It is true that silver exists in soil, in food and even as a
pollutant in air in some places and that this silver becomes deposited in
the body.  I also found evidence supporting the claim that the amount of
silver absorped declines with age.  However, this does *not* necessarily
mean that one is deficient and needs silver supplements.  You probably also
have cadmium, arsenic, lead, bismuth, strontium and other metals in your
body and your absorption and retention of some of these declines with age,
too.  But that does not mean you need to take lead supplements.  Silicon and
aluminum are even more plentiful in soil and they also end up in the body in
small amounts.  Just because it's there doesn't mean that it's *supposed* to
be there.  I am aware of no biologic process that *requires* silver.  Point
me toward the evidence that silver is needed for proper immune function or
health and I shall recant.  I would wonder if "silver deficiencies" are not
wishful thinking on the part of CS manufacturers.
 
zzz If CS is a broad-spectrum antibiotic with low toxicity (as the
toxicology data support), then perhaps members of the FML can try to
understand which conditions in ferrets are best treated by CS, and how it
could be best used (e.g., as supportive therapy, first-line treatment,
etc.) and whether there are any circumstances in which CS is not effective
(and thus, a waste of money) or harmful (maybe ferrets with impaired liver
function?).
 
    I wouldn't want anyone to get the idea that CS might be a panacea (I've
got a perpetual motion machine to sell you if you ;) but if it is helpful
and with little risk, why not explore how we can use it to our benefit and
to the benefit of our fuzzies.
 
--Jeff ([log in to unmask])
[Posted in FML issue 1378]