Here’s another example -- fresh from the archives of the otherwise
prestigious NBC News – demonstrating the hypocrisy of the major news media,
particularly when it comes to reporting on colloidal silver…
Hi, Steve Barwick here, for www.TheSilverEdge.com...
Obviously, NBC News is
running out of sensationalistic topics for the “Body Odd” section of their
online news site.
In fact, in a recent article
by “science writer” Tia Ghose, the giant news network chose to regurgitate, in
National Enquirer-style, some of the same tired old canards about colloidal
silver we’ve all seen in the past.
From the very first
paragraph, onward, NBC News ominously warns its readers that those who drink
too much colloidal silver “turn a disturbing shade of blue-gray, a condition
known as argyria.”
Of course, as I’ve pointed
out over and over and over
and over again,
colloidal silver CAN indeed cause argyria – i.e., a blue-gray skin
staining. This has been known for over
60 years. So it’s nothing new.
What NBC News Left Out
But what NBC News selectively
fails to point out in their article is that in order to create argyria, you
have to use this otherwise safe, natural infection-fighting substance irresponsibly, in great excess, and for
long periods of time.
That’s because when
colloidal silver is used regularly, for
months or years on end, and in super-high doses or excessively high
concentrations, the body’s normal elimination processes (i.e., kidneys, liver,
and sweat glands) can get overwhelmed by the excess silver.
As a result, the body can begin
to store some of the tiny silver particles in the tissues and organs.
And if excessive colloidal
silver consumption is continued, the
body then begins pushing some of the tiny silver particles out to the skin in
an effort to get rid of it.
Finally, when enough
sunlight hits the embedded silver particles in the skin, they begin to oxidize
(i.e., tarnish), turning the skin a
bluish-gray or even slate gray color.
It’s very similar to the
photographic process that uses silver to create photo negatives. In essence, the skin becomes “tattooed” a
grayish blue color wherever the silver particles are.
Never Harmed Anybody
But when colloidal silver is
used responsibly, with moderation and
common sense, it has one of the most benign safety profiles of all nutritional
supplements.
Indeed, the safety profile for
colloidal silver is so good, the FDA has admitted under past Freedom of
Information Act requests that it has no
negative public safety data whatsoever on the supplement, as I’ll show you
in just a moment.
The point being, of course,
that moderate, responsible and common-sense usage of colloidal silver has never harmed anybody.
But NBC News selectively leaves
that little bit of information out of their article. Why do you think they’d leave out such an
important fact?
Colloidal Silver Safety Record
Indeed, NBC News utterly failed
to acknowledge in their article that colloidal silver is sold in virtually every
well-stocked health food store in every city in North America, and that there’s
an estimated 10 million users of the infection-fighting substance in North
America alone.
The giant news network also failed
to acknowledge that colloidal silver is one of the most popular water
disinfectants used throughout Mexico, Central and South America, where the
colloidal silver product called Microdyn is routinely recommended by the
governments of those countries.
And the network failed to acknowledge that in Europe, colloidal silver is used in the drinking water supplies of thousands of cruise ships and cargo ships, to safely sterilize and disinfect the drinking water.
And the network failed to acknowledge that in Europe, colloidal silver is used in the drinking water supplies of thousands of cruise ships and cargo ships, to safely sterilize and disinfect the drinking water.
NBC News also failed to
acknowledge that colloidal silver has even been used on the Space Shuttle as well as
the Russian Space station
to disinfect the water for astronauts and cosmonauts on long space
journeys.
But I don’t suppose you’ve
heard of any blue-skinned astronauts or cosmonauts lately, have you? How about blue-skinned cruise ship
passengers? Blue-skinned Mexicans,
Central Americans, or South Americans?
I thought not.
What’s more, NBC News failed
to acknowledge that colloidal silver is used widely throughout
Third World developing countries to help disinfect the water supply, and as
a result is directly responsible for saving literally hundreds of thousands of
lives from dysentery and other infectious diseases.
So you’d think with all of
this colloidal silver usage worldwide, there would be a veritable global epidemic
of blue people everywhere you look, wouldn’t you?
But what’s the reality?
In over 120 years
of colloidal silver usage worldwide, in a wide variety of consumer
applications, and with millions and millions of current users worldwide…
…only a relatively tiny handful of people have ever managed
to turn themselves blue, and then, only when they took egregiously excessive
amounts of colloidal silver for long periods of time.
That’s what NBC News fails to tell you. And why
do they selectively fail to give you this information?
It’s because if they gave
you those details you’d have the proper perspective
from which to judge their propagandistic claims about colloidal silver.
You’d see that their claims
are sensationalistic at best, and bordering on corrupt at worst.
But they won’t give you
those details, because they don’t want
you to have them.
The bottom line is that when
it comes to reporting on colloidal silver, they’ve stooped to National
Enquirer-style journalism on behalf of their pharmaceutical company
masters.
Indeed, the biggest piece of
information NBC News fails to acknowledge is that even the FDA has sheepishly had
to admit, when faced with Freedom of Information Act requests for information on
colloidal silver’s safety, that they don’t have any significant negative consumer data on the substance:
FDA Admits: No Clinical Data Showing
Colloidal Silver to Be Unsafe
for Human Use
For example, here’s one
Freedom of Information Act request to the FDA, asking for all of their negative
data on colloidal silver.
Following the request,
you’ll find the FDA’s short but revealing reply:
October
14th, 1999
Food and
Drug Administration
U.S. Department Of Health and
Human Services
Public Health Service
5600 Fishers Lane
Rockville, MD 20857
U.S. Department Of Health and
Human Services
Public Health Service
5600 Fishers Lane
Rockville, MD 20857
Dear
Sirs/Madam,
Pursuant to
the Freedom of Information Act and in regard your August 17th, 1999 ruling
regarding colloidal silver, could you please supply the following documentation
on which you based your decision?
1. The
number of deaths related to the consumption of colloidal silver.
2. The
number of allergic reactions to the consumption of colloidal silver.
3. The
number of harmful drug interactions from both OTC and prescription drugs when
combined with colloidal silver.
4. The
number of reported cases of Argyria from colloidal silver made with the AC or
DC electrical process.
5. The
number of cases of Argyria from colloidal silver that did not contain protein
stabilizers.
Thank you
for your time and consideration of this request.
Sincerely,
[name
removed]
-------------------------------------------
Here’s the FDA short but
very revealing response to this Freedom of Information Act request for negative
consumer information on colloidal silver:
Public
Health Service
Center for Drug Evaluation and Research
Office of Training and Communication
Freedom of Information Staff HFD-205
5600 Fishers Lane 12 B 05
Rockville, Maryland 20857
DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Center for Drug Evaluation and Research
Office of Training and Communication
Freedom of Information Staff HFD-205
5600 Fishers Lane 12 B 05
Rockville, Maryland 20857
DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
November 3,
1999
In Response
Refer to File: F99-22589
[ Name
Removed ], WA 98408
Dear [ name
removed ]:
This is in
response to your request of 10/14/99, in which you requested adverse events
associated with the use of Colloidal Silver.
Your
request was received in the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research on 10/25/99.
We have
searched the records from FDA's Adverse Event Reporting System (AERS) and have
been unable to locate any cases that would be responsive to your request.
Charges of
$3.50 (Search $3.50, Review $0, Reproduction $0, Computer time $0) will be
included in a monthly invoice.
DO NOT SEND
ANY PAYMENT UNTIL YOU RECEIVE AN INVOICE.
If there
are any problems with this response, please notify us in writing of your
specific problem(s). Please reference the above file number.
Sincerely,
Hal Stepper
Freedom of Information Technician
Office of Training and Communications
Freedom of Information Staff, HFD-205
Freedom of Information Technician
Office of Training and Communications
Freedom of Information Staff, HFD-205
As you can see, the FDA
response for information on negative consumer data on colloidal silver was
underwhelming to say the least.
Indeed, they had nothing negative to say about colloidal
silver when given the chance to reveal its supposed dangers.
Big Pharma’s Influence on the News
So why is NBC News railing
against the supposed dangers of colloidal silver when even the FDA has been
forced to admit the consumer safety profile of this infection-fighting natural
substance is remarkably clean?
And why hasn’t NBC News
acknowledged that some of the most popular and widely used drugs in the world
have far more crippling (and even deadly) side effects, including many of the drugs
that NBC routinely advertises on its own network, such as Tylenol, which is now
the world’s #1 leading cause of acute liver failure resulting in 56,000 cases
per year of liver poisoning, 26,000 hospital admissions and about 500 deaths
annually due to liver failure?
Could it be because Big
Pharma spends something like $4 billion annually on media advertising
for their drugs?
Yes, that’s billion with a
“b.” And yes, that’s every single year
– with some $3.1 billion of this money going directly to television advertising according to the New York Times.
Could it be that NBC and the
other major television networks have a vested
financial interest in promoting Big Pharma’s side-effect laden drugs, while
discrediting natural health remedies such as colloidal silver?
Could this be why the big networks
so snidely portray natural health remedies as dangerous modern-day versions of
“snake oil” – even as they collectively rake in billions of dollars annually
from the big drug makers in return for promoting some of the most deadly and
side effect-laden drugs in the world?
I’ll leave those questions
up to you to answer for yourself. But I
think in your heart of hearts you already know the answer.
Setting the Record Straight
With all of that out of the
way, let’s take a quick look at some of the specific claims made against
colloidal silver in the NBC News article.
In the very first paragraph
of the article, NBC News claims that colloidal silver may be “the weirdest” of
all “unproven health remedies.”
That highly biased statement
sets the tone for the rest of the NBC News article, as the reporter attempts to
portray colloidal silver usage as something out of a carnival sideshow.
The author goes on to state
in the fourth paragraph that “Enthusiasts of colloidal silver believe the
metal's antibacterial properties will keep them from getting sick,” but “There’s
no proof it works…”
So what’s wrong with the claim? It’s completely biased and decidedly
untruthful.
·
First of all, the NBC News article fails to acknowledge
all of the studies demonstrating colloidal silver’s profound effectiveness
against serious life-threatening pathogens like MRSA.
·
The NBC News article also fails to acknowledge
the studies demonstrating colloidal
silver’s effectiveness against a number of viruses.
·
The NBC News article also fails to acknowledge
the plethora of bona-fide
medical experts who recommend colloidal silver usage for healing infections and
related illnesses. In fact, NBC News
fails to provide any balance to their article whatsoever by interviewing or quoting
these medical experts.
·
And the NBC News article fails to acknowledge
the dozens upon dozens of clinical
studies and white papers that have demonstrated the profound infection-fighting
benefits of colloidal silver.
·
And finally, the NBC News article writes off
thousands of anecdotal
reports of colloidal silver’s profound healing qualities as being nothing
more than figments of the overly-active imaginations of users of the substance.
In other words, there was no
attempt whatsoever made by NBC News to provide a balanced and unbiased look
at colloidal silver and its usage.
The entire article was the
journalistic equivalent of a drive-by shooting.
Indeed, the author of the NBC
news article ventures into the realm Red Herring journalism by sneaking in a
link to another online article about the Fugate clan of Troublesome Creek,
Kentucky.
The Fugates, of course, have
bluish-looking skin due to a genetic blood abnormality called methemoglobinemia, which is apparently compounded
by intermarriage between members of this isolated clan.
The article about the Fugate
clan has absolutely nothing to do
with colloidal silver usage, or with argyria.
Indeed, it appears to be linked
to by NBC News solely as a means of connecting colloidal silver usage with a
freakish occurrence of nature.
But far from being a
freakish occurrence of nature, colloidal silver is among one of the most
well-studied and commonly used forms of natural protection from infectious
microorganisms, with dozens of
clinical studies to its credit.
New Study?
Finally, what really galls
me about this propaganda piece disguised as a “news” article from NBC is that
it purports to be an announcement of a new clinical study that has for the
first time ever demonstrated the biological pathway through which colloidal
silver causes argyria.
Here’s a direct quote from
the NBC News article:
“The team found that stomach acid strips
silver atoms of one electron (electrons have a negative charge), making a
positively charged silver ion, or salt.
The silver ion then seeps into the
bloodstream through channels normally only used by other salts. From the
bloodstream, the salts wind up in the skin.
When light hits the skin, electrons from the
surrounding area immediately bond to the silver ions, turning them back into
silver atoms.
The chemical conversion results in darker
particles, and the skin turns blue. The same chemical reaction is used to
develop black-and-white prints.”
Ignoring the erroneous idea
that a positively charged silver ion is a “salt” (it most definitely isn’t)…
…and ignoring the fact that
no mention whatsoever is made of the decided worldwide dearth of cases of
argyria…
…have we learned anything new from the NBC News article?
Nope. Not a thing.
While NBC News essentially touts
this new study as being groundbreaking in nature, the reality is this:
It’s been known for over six decades that the condition known as
argyria is basically similar to the photographic process in which silver is
converted by light to produce a pigment.
For example, Wikipedia.com
explains:
“Chronic intake of silver products can result
in an accumulation of silver or silver sulfide particles in the skin.
As in photography (where silver is used due
to its reactivity with light), these particles in the skin darken with exposure
to sunlight, resulting in a blue or gray discoloration of the skin.
This condition is known
as argyria.”
And the 1987 clinical study,
Argyria: the Intradermal “Photograph,” a Manifestation of Passive
Photosensitivity” states:
“X-ray microprobe and electron microscopic
study was made of the remarkable blue-black pigmentation that sunlight elicits
in patients with argyria…
…Similarities are demonstrated between the
darkening of the skin and the darkening of a photographic film following light
exposure…
…This passive photosensitivity reaction
leads to silver tattooing of the light-exposed skin and to photographic imaging
in the film.”
In other words, the whole
idea touted by NBC News that this is new
information borders on the ludicrous.
The NBC News article simply uses
the announcement of the new study as an empty
pretence to ridicule the idea of colloidal silver usage, and most
importantly, to scare away their readers from even thinking about using
it.
The Real Purpose of the Article
Finally, the NBC News
article states, regarding colloidal silver and argyria, “To avoid looking like a Smurf, it's probably best to avoid the health
tonic altogether.”
And there you have, in a
nutshell, the entire purpose of the NBC News hit piece.
But do you see any
news articles from NBC News saying "To avoid becoming one of the 56,000
people per year who end up with Tylenol poisoning or the 500 people per year
who end up dying from acute liver failure due to Tylenol poisoning, it's
probably best to avoid pain-relieving drugs like Tylenol altogether?"
Of course not. After all, such a statement – however true it
might be -- would cost NBC tens of millions of dollars or more in annual
advertising revenues.
The bottom line is that the entire NBC News article on colloidal silver was
cleverly designed to sow into the minds of their news readers the erroneous
notion that they’ll ‘turn blue’ if they even consider using the substance.
Wrong Again…
Finally, the NBC News
article concludes by saying “…there’s no known way to reverse” argyria.
Yet even that statement is a
complete falsehood.
Nearly 10 years ago Dr.
Allison Vidimos of the famous Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland, OH developed a
method for using a laser light to reverse mild cases of argyric skin staining.
And she’s taught this
technique around the world ever since.
Indeed, there are now doctors from the east coast to the west coast and
around the world successfully practicing the technique, which is basically very
much like tattoo removal using laser light.
Years ago I wrote about this
successful technique for reversing argyria in my book, The Ultimate Colloidal
Silver Manual.
And I wrote about it again
in my more recent article, Colloidal
Silver: Harmful to the Human Body?
Pure Propaganda
So basically, the only significant fact the NBC News
article got right is that excessive use of colloidal silver can cause argyria –
a fact that’s been widely known for some 60-plus years (though it is only true
for a small subset of users).
The rest of the article was
pure propaganda. And NBC News has pretty
much destroyed any credibility it might have had in regards to unbiased
reporting on natural health topics.
The bottom line is that if
you stripped away all of the reporter’s bias and skillfully employed propaganda
from the NBC News article, and added just a tiny bit of factual data, the
entire news article could have easily been summed up thusly:
In a press
release, scientists from Brown University claim to have simulated the
biological pathway through which excessive long-term use of colloidal silver
can cause argyria.
Argyria is a
cosmetic skin condition that has afflicted only a tiny number of the estimated
10 million colloidal silver users across North America, and which according to
the FDA causes no apparent health concerns.
In this
simulation, the researchers demonstrated what has already been known about
argyria for some 60 years:
When a
large enough number of silver particles are carried through the body to the
skin over long periods of time, the skin can become stained blue or bluish gray
in a photographic-like process.
But instead of reporting
truthfully, the reporter chose to abandon all journalistic principle and weave
her own bias into the article, using cleverly chosen words and website links to
strike fearful emotional chords in the minds of NBC News readers.
You’re Fired!
As a journalist and author
with over 30 years of writing and editorial experience, I can assure you I’d
have fired any reporter who brought me such a deceptive and poorly researched
piece of propaganda disguised as journalism.
But NBC News chose instead
to print the piece.
Worse yet, NBC News chose to
end the article with an embedded video of poor old Paul Karason, the so-called
“colloidal silver blue man,” who openly admits he used high concentrations of
colloidal silver excessively for over ten years and ended up staining his
facial skin a bright blue.
Of course, there would be
nothing wrong with including that video, had NBC News bothered to mention the
fact that Karason is an unusual case and is not at all representative of the
millions of responsible colloidal silver users around the world.
But instead the news network
chose not to do reveal that critical
detail, demonstrating their own complicity in the biased reporting.
What NBC News Won’t Tell You
To learn more about the use
of safe, natural colloidal silver
for fighting infection and disease, just click the link in this sentence and
scroll through some of the web pages linked in the navigation bar on the
left-hand side of the page.
I suggest checking out the “Clinical
Studies and Reports” page, for example, which lists dozens of clinical studies on colloidal silver that you can read
right on the website.
You might also want to check
out the “What the Experts Say About Colloidal Silver” page, which lists literally
hundreds of positive quotes on
colloidal silver from medical and scientific research experts.
Then, while you’re at it, check
out the “More Great Articles About Colloidal Silver” page for over 100 in-depth
articles on colloidal silver.
And finally, if you’re a
real brave soul, check out the “Testimonials” page as well. There you’ll learn exactly how hundreds of
experienced colloidal silver users have used the substance safely and
effectively to heal numerous forms of infectious illness and disease.
Meanwhile, I’ll be back next
week with another great article on colloidal silver…
Yours for the safe, sane and responsible use of colloidal silver,
Steve Barwick, author
The Ultimate Colloidal Silver Manual
The Ultimate Colloidal Silver Manual
Helpful Links:
Important Note and
Disclaimer: The contents of this Ezine have not been
evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration.
Information conveyed herein is from sources deemed to be accurate and
reliable, but no guarantee can be made in regards to the accuracy and
reliability thereof. The author, Steve
Barwick, is a natural health journalist with over 30 years of experience
writing professionally about natural health topics. He is not
a doctor. Therefore, nothing stated in
this Ezine should be construed as prescriptive in nature, nor is any part of
this Ezine meant to be considered a substitute for professional medical
advice. Nothing reported herein is
intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. The author is simply reporting in
journalistic fashion what he has learned during the past 17 years of
journalistic research into colloidal silver and its usage. Therefore, the information and data presented
should be considered for informational purposes only, and approached with
caution. Readers should verify for
themselves, and to their own satisfaction, from other knowledgeable sources
such as their doctor, the accuracy and reliability of all reports, ideas,
conclusions, comments and opinions stated herein. All important health care decisions should be
made under the guidance and direction of a legitimate, knowledgeable and
experienced health care professional.
Readers are solely responsible for their choices. The author and publisher disclaim
responsibility and/or liability for any loss or hardship that may be incurred
as a result of the use or application of any information included in this
Ezine.
Copyright
2012 | Life & Health Research Group, LLC | PO Box 1239 | Peoria AZ
85380-1239 | All rights reserved
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