Medical Uses of Silver

Apart from being used for ornamental and chemical purposes, silver is also an actively used for medicinal purposes. Its medicinal use is also made possible owing to its chemical property chu ing out positive charged silver ion, Ag+ (which is brought about by the use of current). The medical uses of silver include its addition in dressings used for healing wounds and treating exte al infections. It is also used as an antiseptic and disinfectant in medical appliances. Alte ative medicine also advocates the use of silver in the form of colloidal silver, albeit, mainstream medicines don’t approve that due to safety reasons. The silver ion (Ag+) is bioactive. When present in sufficient concentration, this ion is capable of killing bacteria in vitro. Silver also kills bacteria in exte al wounds in living tissue, so physicians use wound dressings containing silver sulfadiazine (Ag-SD) or silver nano materials to treat exte al infections. When the 90s started, some companies started marketing colloidal silver as an alte ative medicine. Some companies also started selling colloidal silver generator using which people could prepare colloidal silver in their homes. They starting talking about the benefits of colloidal silver and even went to the extent of saying that it has “cure-all” properties. Alte ative medicine community still promotes the use of colloidal silver. Despite the apprehensions of mainstream medical community, many people go for the use of colloidal silver to treat infections due to yeast; bacteria (tuberculosis, Lyme disease, bubonic plague, pneumonia, leprosy, gonorrhea, syphilis, scarlet fever, stomach ulcers, cholera); parasites (ringworm, malaria); and viruses (HIV/AIDS, pneumonia, herpes, shingles, warts). Users are cautioned to double-check the tall claims made by random companies selling colloid silver, check for safety conce s, and only go for high quality, certified and least toxic colloidal silver supplied by quality manufacturers. Silver as an Antiseptic and a Disinfectantr Silver and most silver compounds exhibit the property of oligodynamic effect (toxic effect of metal ions on living cells,algae, molds, spores, fungi, viruses, prokaryotic and eukaryotic microorganisms, even in relatively low concentrations). This effect is shown by most heavy metals, such as lead and mercury. Among such heavy metals, silver is considered least toxic for humans. The antibacterial action of silver is governed by the ability of biologically active silver ion (Ag+) to cause irreversible damage to the enzyme systems in the cell membranes of pathogens. This antibacterial action of silver can be amplified by the use of an electromagnetic field. According to Wikipedia, the World Health Organisation considers silver in a colloid state produced by electrolysis of silver electrodes in water and colloidal silver in water filters as a water disinfectant for providing safe drinking water in developing countries Silver for Treating Exte al Infections In World War I, before the advent of antibiotics, silver compounds were used to prevent and treat infections. Even till date, silver compounds are used exte ally for treating infections. Silver nitrate is one such common compound which is often used to treat conditions like corns and warts. Of late, dressings containing nano crystalline silver have become available. These dressings deliver high concentration of silver ion. While the demand for such dressings has gone up, some experts still hold mixed views on them. The evidence of their effectiveness is marred by the poor quality of the trials used to assess such products.