Colloidal silver supplements are a controversial medicinal product mostly condemned by government health agencies and lauded by proponents of alternative medicine.
In 1999, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said that colloidal silver was unsafe and was not beneficial in treating any diseases or medical conditions. Still, colloidal silver is used as an antibacterial in the medical field. In topical form, colloidal silver is useful in treating burns, wounds, and skin infections as well as in treating conjunctivitis, an eye infection, in newborns,
according to the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health.
Silver prevents bacteria from forming the chemical bonds it requires to survive,
according to The Silver Institute. Thus, silver causes bacteria to fall apart rather than reproduce. Silver’s antibacterial properties are so strong that silver-enforced bandages, wound dressings, needles, and other medical equipment and tools have dated back to the time of the Phoenicians.
VOTE NOW: Should Parents Have the Freedom Not to Vaccinate Their Children?
Some studies have indicated that low doses of silver may improve the effectiveness of some antibiotics.
“New research shows that low doses of silver can massively boost the effect of antibiotics on bacteria, making them up to 1,000 times more sensitive to the drugs. The researchers hope their discovery will give new life to old antibiotics, including those to which microbes have become resistant,”
said a study published in Medical News Today.
The 2013 study discovered that silver compounds can make bacteria create reactive oxygen species (ROS), which are made by the metabolism of all living organisms. Additionally, the silver compound breaks down bacteria cell membranes.
In terms of alternative medicine, colloidal silver supplements are considered a homeopathic treatment. Created in Germany over 200 years ago, homeopathy embodies the ideas that certain symptoms can be cured with small doses of substances that also cause them, and that low doses of medicine are more effective than larger doses.
URGENT: Should States Be Allowed to Make Health Decisions for Your Children?
Although approximately 5 million adults and 1 million children in the U.S. used homeopathic methods last year, the
National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health said “there is little evidence to support homeopathy as an effective treatment for any specific condition.”
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.