# Any news on "natural antibiotics" more recent than 1978? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 12, 2002, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-news-on-natural-antibiotics-more-recent-than-1978/128116 "2002-09-12T15:05:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/96bed5/32.png) [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patty_O_Furniture)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2002, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-news-on-natural-antibiotics-more-recent-than-1978/128116/1 "2002-09-12T15:05:26Z")
We had an [old thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=26970) on colloidal silver two years ago, but I’m wondering if there has been any recent light shed on the value of silver as an antibiotic. My gut reaction is to keep metals _out_ of my bloodstream, not to put more in. I don’t think the good Doctor Qadgop was with us back then, so I hope to have his input as well. And what exactly is a “natural” antibiotic, anyway? Why isn’t penicillin considered natural? A cursory Google search turns up mentions of silver as a panacea but all citations are 1978 or older. The most recent one I can find is at the bottom of [this page](http://www.bondel.com/sec_3_1.php?pg=idx_3&secpg=sec_3_1), but it’s just the citation, with no link: > [@](#): > > 1. “In 70 Countries Silver Purifies Water,” Science Digest, February, 1978 I think 1978 was when Science Digest was a rag more or less equivalent to Reader’s Digest. It changed its look in the early 80’s but is still, as far as I know, owned by the Hearst Corporation. I’m not sure what form it takes in its present day incarnation, or if it even still exists. That _Bon Del_ page has some silver-impregated filters to sell us, so it’s not exactly unbiased. I leave it to esteemed dopers to make short work of the following excerpts, or anything I chose not to quote: > [@](#): > > Since 1893, medical science has used silver as a powerful bactericide and fungicide. Why is this considered significant? Weren’t there quite a few things “medical science” was doing circa 1890’s that would scare the bejeebes out of us today? > [@](#): > > And no studies have ever shown that silver is harmful to man. —The Silver Institute Letter, August 1987, Volume XVII Number 4. Anybody? Anybody? Bueller?? > [@](#): > > The value of silver in medicine and as a purifier has been acknowledged for centuries. Wasn’t it only recently that the germ theory of disease/infection was accepted? How did ancient civilizations verify silver’s alleged purification properties if they couldn’t count the number of cooties in a sample of water? > [@](#): > > [S]ilver nitrate solution [is dropped] in[to] the eyes of newborn babies to prevent blindness due to infection —a practice carried on even in the most modern hospitals. Is this accurate? > [@](#): > > After testing 23 methods of purifying water, NASA chose silver as the purifying agent on the first Space Shuttle program. So much came from the space program, so why haven’t we integrated this into municipal water treatment? There are some amazing claims made in the section [Swimming pool tests using silver](http://www.bondel.com/sec_3_1.php?pg=idx_3&secpg=sec_3_1#pools) which, if true, make me wonder why we have any disease left in the world at all. > [@](#): > > In a long-delayed recognition of these facts, on July 8, 1987, the Federal Register carried an announcement of the elimination of silver from the Environmental Protection Agency’s primary Threshold Limit Value list for drinking water. Does that mean it’s safe for consumption? ---
**Author:** ![NotMrKnowItAll](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/6bbea6/32.png) [@NotMrKnowItAll](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NotMrKnowItAll)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2002, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-news-on-natural-antibiotics-more-recent-than-1978/128116/2 "2002-09-12T18:21:52Z")
FWIW: I have before me a tub (400 grams) of 1% Silver Sulfadiazine Cream. My wife’s doctor prescribed it to her for treating surface burns and infections. He said that antibiotic creams such as Polysporin can irritate the skin after a while. My wife’s a diabetic, so wounds take a bit longer to heal for her. He prescribed it this year, it expires next year. It was manufactured for PAR Pharmaceutical Inc. by BASF Corp. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2002, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-news-on-natural-antibiotics-more-recent-than-1978/128116/3 "2002-09-13T06:28:24Z")
I’m not an expert on the subject, but I did have a class from a professor who was working on just this subject - the effects of colloidal silver on bacteria. IIRC, his (very preliminary) findings were that silver did seem to have a mild antibacterial effect. He was still working on figuring out what human bodies did with it on a cellular leve. If you’re looking for scientific papers on the subject, may I suggest [PubMed](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi)? I tried searching for “collodial silver” and didn’t come up with anything, but you may want to try some creative searches and see what you find. ---
**Author:** ![Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/96bed5/32.png) [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patty_O_Furniture)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2002, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-news-on-natural-antibiotics-more-recent-than-1978/128116/4 "2002-09-13T12:38:17Z")
Oh, so that’s what BASF does. (bump)