See also "Silver as a Bactericide and Disinfectant" in our History page.

Silver helps rebuild tissue

The mechanism by which silver ions help rebuild tissue has been studied for more than a decade by Robert O. Becker, M.D. of Becker Biomagnetics in New York.

Dr. Becker initially reported his findings at the First International Conference on Silver and Gold in Medicine, co-sponsored by The Silver Institute in 1987. Since then, this technique has been used in clinical settings where hundreds of patients with various wounds have recovered. In addition, a laboratory study conducted by the US Army Institute for Surgical Research at Fort Sam Houston, Texas, showed that laboratory animals with burns treated under controlled conditions experienced shortened time for reconstruction with silver-nylon dressings.

Recovery of skin function was faster when electric current was applied compared to no application of electric current. Dr. Becker received a US patent for the devices, materials, and techniques involved in the regeneration of tissue using silver ions.

After several hundred cases, Dr. Becker believes that the technique works in three stages. The first stage is the chemical combination of highly active free silver ions with all bacteria or fungi present in the wound, which are inactivated within 20 to 30 minutes. The second stage occurs over the next few days. Silver acts on fibroblast cells to cause them to revert to their embryonic state, becoming stem cells. These cells are universal building blocks whose role is to reconstruct new tissue. In the final stage, silver ions form a complex with the living cells in the wound area to produce immediately convertible stem cells. The end result of this conversion is that the stem cells supply all the building blocks necessary to completely restore all anatomical structures.

Additional research by Dr. Becker indicated that during laboratory tests he conducted, cancer cells reverted to normal (not killed, but returned to normal). Other observations he and others have made are a correlation between silver deficiency and illness, proper immune system functioning, soft tissue and bone repair acceleration, the formation of cells that appear to be able to repair virtually any part of the body, reduction of inflammation, antimicrobial, antifungal, antibiotic properties, etc. All of these observations are yet to be fully understood.

No other known treatment provides sufficient numbers of the embryonic or stem cells required for true regeneration of damaged or destroyed tissues in human and animals. The success indicates that there is the potential not only for the healing of near-surface wounds, but also for regenerative repair of internal organs such as the heart, liver, brain, and the spinal cord.

Patients have found relief from staph, strep, prostate and sinus infections, as well as laryngitis and sore throats, when treated with colloidal silver, says Debra Brammer, N.D., a naturopathic physician and faculty member at Seattle-based Bastyr University. Though few medical professionals are familiar with colloidal silver, no one disputes the need for an alternative to traditional antibiotics. Its proponents cite decades of word of mouth supporting its effectiveness, as well as published clinical studies in Europe and Australia.

Colloidal Silver References

1)     The FDA has stated that because colloidal silver has been in used for over 60 years (prior to 1938), it may continue to be marketed (Sept. 13, 1991, letter from consumer safety officer, Harold Davis, U.S. Food and Drug Administration). Additionally, the FDA has no jurisdiction over a pure, mineral element. However, the FDA restricts what can and cannot be said about colloidal silver and no claims can be made about its properties.

2)     Dr. Robert Becker’s “The Body Electric” recognizes a correlation between low levels of silver and sickness. He stated that the silver deficiency is responsible for the improper functioning of the immune system. Dr. Becker’s research concluded that silver works on the full spectrum of pathogens without any side effects or damage to any cells of the body.

He also states that the silver was doing something more than killing disease-causing organisms. It was also causing major growth stimulation of injured tissue. Burn patients and even elderly patients noticed more rapid healing. And he discovered that all cancer cells change back to normal cells.

All strains of pathogens resistant to other antibiotics may be killed by colloidal silver.

3)     Dr. W.J. Simpson, C.M.G., M.D., (Professor of Hygiene) Kings College, London, and Dr. R. Tanner Hewlefler, M.D., F.R.C.P. (Professor of Bacteriology) University of London, published an article in The Lancet, back in Dec. 1944. In essence, it said that the typhoid bacillus, which they were working on, was killed outright by the silver colloid solution.

4)     Alfred Searle, founder of the pharmaceutical conglomerate, wrote in 1919:  “Applying colloidal silver to human subjects has been done in a large number of cases with astonishingly successful results. For internal administration, orally, or hypodermically, it has the advantage of being rapidly fatal to parasites without toxic action on its host. It is quite stable”.

5)     “Colloidal Preparations of Silver in Pharmacy”, British Medical Journal, February 1923. Pure silver is entirely non-irritant. In tests, at very high dilution rates it has been shown repeatedly that the rapid exerted disinfectant action is of considerable therapeutic value.

6)     Alexander Tomasz, M.D. of the Rockefeller University of New York City, states: “Common bacteria that cause pneumonia, children’s ear infections and many other diseases are evolving into forms untreatable by all known medicines, threatening a frightening post-antibiotic era that is a looming medical disaster”.

7)     “Silver our mightiest Germ Fighter”, Science Digest of March 1978. As an antibiotic, silver kills hundreds of disease-causing organisms, and resistant strains fail to develop. Silver is absolutely non-toxic and the best all round germ fighter that we have. Doctors are reporting that, taken internally, it works in cases of syphilis, cholera, malaria, diabetes and severe burns. Richard L. Davies, executive director of The Silver Institute, which monitors silver technology in 37 countries, reports: “In four years, we’ve described 87 important new medical uses for silver”.

8)     Dr. Bjorn Nordstrom, of the Karolinska Institute in Sweden, has used silver in his cancer cure method for many years. He says the whole thing is very simple. This brought rapid remission in patients given up by other doctors.

9)     Rather than in a chemical compound, silver, in a colloidal state, may be applied in a much-concentrated form, with corresponding better results.

10)  According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Poison Control Center, colloidal silver is considered harmless. Dr Samuel Etris, a senior consultant at The Silver Institute, reports that there has never been any allergic, toxic, or carcinogenic reactions to colloidal silver. The U.S. Government's Center for Disease Control confirmed that fact in 1995.