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Is Mainstream Information Dangerous to Your Health?

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Is Mainstream Information Dangerous to Your Health?

Something very strange is going on. Natural substances that have healed people for thousands of years, and have significant recent scientific studies to support them, are thought of as useless or even dangerous by a vast majority of the population. Recently, we noticed somebody posting on Facebook offering their colloidal silver products, and they were met with a number of mocking and hostile comments accusing them of selling fake medicine and basically being crazy.  We bet these same people would take a pharmaceutical drug like Ibuprofen without even thinking about it. 

This article compares colloidal silver and Ibuprofen in terms of their safety and public perception. This may seem like a strange comparison since one is a pain killer and the other treats infections, but we have chosen them because of the stark contrast in their reputations, and safety records. Colloidal silver is widely demonised – and seen as a kind of whacky cure that a conspiracy theorist may take. This is despite much evidence supporting it, and no reported deaths. On the other hand, Ibuprofen is given out like candy even though it kills thousands and thousands of people. 

Silver has been used medicinally for at least 6000 years. In fact, before the introduction of antibiotics in the 1940s, it was the most important anti-microbial agent in existence. Now that widespread antibiotic use has caused deadly, antibiotic-resistant superbug strains to emerge globally, silver is making its comeback. Many recent studies have shown that it kills bacteria. Its anti-viral properties are also under investigation, and so far, it has been shown to be active against Hepatitis B, HIV, Herpes, and other viruses. Colloidal silver is also being investigated as an anti-cancer agent, and it has proven effective against breast cancer cells in a laboratory study. 

Despite these studies, and its extensive medicinal use throughout human history, if you type “colloidal silver” into Google, the first page of results shown are all from billion-dollar companies urging against its use, telling you it does not work, that it will turn your skin blue, and even kill you! In over 6000 years, death from silver consumption has never been reported, not even once. It begs the question: ‘Why would all these health information companies list a side effect that has never been reported?’. Among all the warnings, a phrase your will often hear repeated is, “There is no scientific evidence that colloidal silver cures any medical condition.”. This is because it has only been tested in laboratories, and no human trials have taken place. This is generally the case for natural substances because there is no money to be made from them. A new anti-viral or cancer drug will gain an enormous amount of research interest, because of the potential billions to be made. Something like colloidal silver will never get this type of attention. It does not mean it does not work. 

As well as pointing out how dangerous colloidal silver actually is, these websites also say there is no evidence to say it works. In a way this is true because even though colloidal silver has been shown to be anti-bacterial, anti-viral, and anti-cancer, there have been no human clinical trials. One study claims that this is because of potential health risks. This seems strange given that there is hardly any evidence of adverse effects despite centuries of use. Pharmaceutical trials do not normally seem so concerned with risk. In fact, we found one study for the $7 billion blockbuster cancer drug Taxol where 13% of the participants were killed! Despite this, more studies are taking place and this drug is prescribed to millions of people. We believe it is not the risk of harm that prevents clinical trials into natural products, it is the lack of money to be made. Human trials cost hundreds of millions of dollars and with no money to be made from colloidal silver, they will never take place. 

Now let’s look at one of the most popular pharmaceutical drugs, Ibuprofen. Ibuprofen kills around 16,000 Americans every year (that’s 16,000 more than colloidal silver). Life-threatening haemorrhaging is listed as a common side effect of Ibuprofen. Over 200,000 Europeans die from adverse reactions to pharmaceutical drugs. Yet almost all health-care professionals prescribe these same drugs, overlooking extensive studies revealing their dangers. A huge study done in 2005 uncovered that long-term use of ibuprofen increases breast cancer risk by 50%. Another study of over 8 million people worldwide found that prescribed (normal) usage of Ibuprofen increased risk of heart failure by 19%. Pretty much everyone worldwide has heard of or used ibuprofen, it is one of the most popular pain relievers in the world, yet practically no one knows of its dangers. 

If you Google, “Ipubrofen” you will see all the same billion-dollar companies dominating the search results. Click through and you will find nothing about the very serious risks posed by this drug. 

Now let’s go back to colloidal silver. Why do the big medical companies that dominate the first page of Google say that colloidal silver will turn your skin blue? There is such a condition – named Argyria. But there have only been under 20 cases of Argyria reported ever worldwide, and in most cases, the patients had made the colloidal silver at home, and abused it for several years, causing an accumulation of silver in the skin. Argyria is not a side effect of colloidal silver in itself, rather it is a side effect of significant abuse over several years. The most publicised case is that of Paul Karason, who turned his skin blue after drinking an entire glass of colloidal silver a day for years and putting it on his skin. The normal dose is a tea-spoon! Not only that, what he was taking was not like the nano-silver products available in the shops, but it was also a homemade compound he was creating without the proper knowledge. Interestingly, Paul had nothing bad to say about colloidal silver and would appear on talk shows (completely blue) to advocate its use.  

So, despite hundreds of years of use, with only a few cases of Argyria, all over the internet you hear reports that colloidal silver will turn you blue. On the other hand, you hear very little about how Ibuprofen can kill you – which it can.  


Oblivious to these facts, the majority of people think that colloidal silver is dangerous, and that ibuprofen is safe. Perhaps this is down to the fact that Pfizer, one of the biggest manufacturers of Ibuprofen, spent an astronomical $1.4 billion on advertising in 2014. The total revenue of pharmaceutical companies worldwide is over $1 trillion. With such deep pockets, and billion-dollar marketing campaigns, it is easy to see how public opinion could be swayed towards pharmaceutical drugs rather than natural medicines. If we knew that drinking a glass of water can eradicate a headache instead of reaching for a painkiller, the pharmaceutical industry would lose out massively. It is in their interest to have us believe that anything natural (and thus freely available) can cure us. 


We see this pattern all the time. Safe, potentially beneficial natural substances are ignored and demonised. Toxic pharmaceuticals are promoted. People who disagree with the mainstream sources of information are shamed as being “conspiracy theorists”. But it doesn’t take a conspiracy to understand why the truth is hidden from us, all you have to do is follow the money. 

We are not suggesting to take any natural remedy, assuming it is safe. But we encourage you to question the mainstream sources of information, as they are corrupted by financial interests. Although science can be corrupted, we still support the scientific method and will only sell substances that are shown to be beneficial. But sometimes, you have to dig a little deeper than the first few pages of Google to find the scientific studies. For us, the most interesting substances are those with centuries of traditional use that are also backed up by modern science.  Colloidal silver is one of these but there are many, many others. 

References

Franco-Molina, M.A., Mendoza-Gamboa, E., Sierra-Rivera, C.A. et al. Antitumor activity of colloidal silver on MCF-7 human breast cancer cells. J Exp Clin Cancer Res 29, 148 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1186/1756-9966-29-148


Galdiero S, Falanga A, Vitiello M, Cantisani M, Marra V, Galdiero M. Silver nanoparticles as potential antiviral agents. Molecules. 2011;16(10):8894‐8918. Published 2011 Oct 24. doi:10.3390/molecules16108894


Morrill, K., May, K., Leek, D., Langland, N., Jeane, L. D., Ventura, J., Skubisz, C., Scherer, S., Lopez, E., Crocker, E., Peters, R., Oertle, J., Nguyen, K., Just, S., Orian, M., Humphrey, M., Payne, D., Jacobs, B., Waters, R., & Langland, J. (2013). Spectrum of antimicrobial activity associated with ionic colloidal silver. Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, 19(3), 224-231. https://doi.org/10.1089/acm.2011.0681


Sotiriou GA, Pratsinis SE. Antibacterial activity of nanosilver ions and particles. Environ Sci Technol. 2010;44(14):5649‐5654. doi:10.1021/es101072s


Zhang, X. F., Liu, Z. G., Shen, W., & Gurunathan, S. (2016). Silver Nanoparticles: Synthesis, Characterization, Properties, Applications, and Therapeutic Approaches. International journal of molecular sciences, 17(9), 1534. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms17091534

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