Monday, August 1, 2011

Colloidal Silver and Salmonella


Salmonella cases seem to be on the rise again.
And not just the typical “food poisoning” variety, but also varieties commonly transferred from animals to humans by direct contact.
Unfortunately, this ubiquitous pathogen can cause severe abdominal pain, vomiting, diarrhea and in some cases even death! And it can strike without notice.
But here’s the good news:
Clinical studies demonstrate that colloidal silver kills the pathogen on contact, in just minutes in many cases!
Here’s what you need to know…
Hi, Steve Barwick here, for www.TheSilverEdge.com...
Earlier this year it was reported that some 240 people – mostly children under the age of five – had become sickened with Salmonella after handling African Dwarf Frogs purchased from pet shops.
The CDC has also reported there were 71 cases of Salmonella infection between February and June in Atlantic coast states – each of which were associated with chicks and ducklings purchased either as pets or as egg producers.
And in June of this year, 20 people across five states had become sickened with Salmonella, apparently caused by eating contaminated alfalfa sprouts.
Now the FDA is reporting a brand new Salmonella outbreak, with 97 reported cases of the infection in 23 states, including 10 hospitalizations – and this time, papaya fruit imported into the U.S. from Mexico is supposedly to blame.
Sources, Symptoms and Risk
The Salmonella pathogen can contaminate just about any type of food, including fruits, vegetables, eggs and meat products – even peanut butter!
It’s also carried naturally by many atypical pets, including lizards, snakes, turtles, frogs, chickens, ducks and many other animals.
What’s more, it can contaminate entire municipal water supplies, as evidenced by the 2008 outbreak in Alamosa, Colorado, in which 1,300 residents were severely sickened, one died, and 29 families sued the city after its municipal water supply became contaminated with Salmonella.
Symptoms of Salmonella infection can include high fever, diarrhea (including bloody diarrhea), nausea, vomiting and intense abdominal cramping and searing pain.
According to the Centers for Disease Control, symptoms can appear within six to 72 hours after ingestion or other contact with the Salmonella bacteria, sometimes longer.
While anyone can become infected with Salmonella simply by ingesting it or even coming into contact with it when it’s carried by pets –
-- children under age 10 are at the highest risk for serious salmonella infections, as well as pregnant women, people with weakened immune systems, and those undergoing chemotherapy or organ transplants.
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) estimates nearly a million and a half cases of Salmonella infection occur annually in the United States –
-- most of them mild to moderate, but with some 20,000 requiring hospitalization and ongoing treatment, and approximately 535 cases annually resulting in death.
Colloidal Silver to the Rescue!
Is colloidal silver effective against the Salmonella pathogen?
The bad news is that while there are over 2,300 different strains of Salmonella, only a small handful of these strains have been clinically studied in relation to colloidal silver.
The good news is that in virtually every one of these studies, colloidal silver proved to be more than capable of destroying the Salmonella pathogen tested!
Indeed, Salmonella infection is one of the 109 diseases documented to have been widely treated with colloidal silver before the advent of prescription antibiotic drugs in the 1940’s.
More recently, in the well-known studies conducted by microbiologist David A. Revelli and Professor of Microbiology/Molecular Biology Dr. Ron W. Leavitt, Ph.D at Brigham Young University in May 1999…
…a colloidal silver solution was able to kill two different strains of the Salmonella food-poisoning pathogen, at extremely low concentrations.
Here’s a brief synopsis of what the researchers discovered:
Salmonella arizona (Food poisoning, etc.) inhibited @ 2.5 ppm and killed @ 5 ppm. 1/28/99 BYU Report.
Salmonella typhimurium (Food poisoning and enteric fever) inhibited and killed at a concentration of 2.5 ppm. 6/7/99 BYU Report.
What’s more, in a clinical study titled “Colloidal Silver As A New Antimicrobial Agent,” published in the International Journal of Microbiological Research (1 (1): 33-36, 2010), colloidal silver was demonstrated to be highly effective against Salmonella typhi and three other serious, disease-causing pathgoens.
The study concluded:
“The initial idea was to determine the antimicrobial activity of colloidal silver, so it could be used as a powerful in vitro antimicrobial agent…
Antimicrobial activity was determined by means of agar diffusion. Resistant clinical isolates of Staphyloccocus aureus, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aregnosa, and Salmonella typhi were used as the test organisms…
In the present experiment colloidal silver showed highly potent antibacterial activity toward all tested pathogens, both Gram-positive and Gram-negative.”
And according to silvermedicine.org, additional clinical studies have demonstrated the powerful infection-fighting qualities of colloidal silver against Salmonella pathogens. For example:
“In a time-kill study conducted by University of North Texas clinical researcher Mark A. Farinha, Ph.D., Professor of Microbiology, when Salmonella typhimurium was tested against a popular colloidal silver product…
…the result was a reduction in population counts from over 10 million to undetectable in four minutes of exposure!”
In the above study, “two concentrations of isolated silver were used, one 15 PPM isolated colloidal silver and one 30 PPM isolated colloidal silver…
…The 30 PPM colloidal silver achieved results markedly faster, although both formulations achieved the desired results within four minutes.”
Of course, these are in vitro (i.e., test tube) studies, so technically they don’t prove oral use of colloidal silver to be effective against a Salmonella infection in humans.
But they do demonstrate that when colloidal silver and Salmonella come into direct contact with one another, Salmonella loses the battle!
More Tests and Studies…
Similarly, tests by NVID International, Inc., a company that produces water treatment systems, has reportedly demonstrated that ionic silver is 99% effective within one minute against Salmonella cholerasuis ATCC 10708 – an astonishingly rapid kill time!
And a study by Animal Science Food Safety Consortium at Kansas State University have demonstrated that colloidal silver produced a greater than 90% reduction in bacterial counts of the Salmonella spp strain found on the surface of beef.
The University researchers concluded that using colloidal silver as a rinse for beef during its processing would make “an effective intervention technology” for reducing Salmonella levels on meat sold to the general public.
A quote from the study:
“Treating beef flank with 32 ppm colloidal silver (Ag) solution had a bactericidal affect on Salmonella spp. and Escherichia coli O157:H7, resulting in a greater than 90% reduction in four hours.
Atomic Absorption Analysis of treated beef samples yielded residual Ag well below the Environmental Protection Agencies (EPA) allowance for 3 oz of red meat.
Although not yet approved for use on foods, a colloidal silver rinse implemented in conjunction with other intervention technologies during the carcass conversion and/or fabrication process could be an effective intervention technology against Salmonella spp. and Escherichia coli O157:H7.”
And Even More Studies…
In another study, a silver nylon fabric was demonstrated to stop all growth of Salmonella typhimurium and Salmonella typhi, as well as 15 other infectious microorganisms, when a broth containing the microbes was poured over the fabric for 24 hours.
According to the study, called “Silver-Nylon: a New Antimicrobial Agent” and published in the journal Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy (Mar. 1983, P. 356-359) :
To determine the spectrum of antimicrobial activity of Silver Nylon, 50 IlI (5 x 107 to 1 x 109 CFU) of an overnight broth of 22 different organisms was placed on the surface of an agar column 2 mm in height overlying a 1-cm2 piece of SN fabric.
No growth of the following 17 organisms was seen after 24 h of incubation:
Acinetobacter calcoaceticus, Shigella sonnei, Salmonella typhimurium, Salmonella typhi, Enterococcus sp., Serratia marcescens…
…Pseudomonas maltophilia, Listeria monocytogenes, Enterobacter cloacae, Staphylococcus epidermidis, Staphylococcus aureus…
…Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Klebsiella pneumoniae, group A Streptococcus, group B Streptococcus, and Pseudomonas cepacia.”
Finally, in the famous BYU study titled, “Bactericidal activity of combinations of Silver–Water Dispersion™ with 19 antibiotics against seven microbial strains”…
…conducted at the Department of Microbiology/Molecular Biology at Brigham Young University…
…it was demonstrated that a strain of antibiotic-resistant Salmonella typhi became susceptible to antibiotics again, but only when a colloidal silver solution was added to the antibiotics!
And in another in vitro study it was demonstrated that just three drops of a popular brand of colloidal silver in one liter of water killed more than 99% of all Salmonella arizonae present, as well as two other water-borne pathogens.
What the Experts Say
Experts agree that silver in its various forms – including colloidal silver, silver nanoparticles and silver ions – are very effective against Salmonella strains.
Here are some pertinent quotes from a variety of expert sources:
"Research with the Heart of England NHS Foundation Trust has found that silver, incorporated in the surfaces of hospital equipment furniture, can reduce bacterial levels by 99 per cent. This, in turn, cuts infection risk from superbugs such as MRSA, E. coli and salmonella."
-- Dr Richard Hastings, microbiologist for BioCote, Ltd.
“Several years ago we conducted some rather extensive evaluations of various protocols promising effective results against various pathogenic agents which cause 'food poisoning'.
The one protocol, effective against ALL agents evaluated, was colloidal silver.
A 5 ppm solution proved effective against all pathogens tested; yielding complete control within 6 to 8 minutes.....regardless of concentration of the pathogenic agent.
Control was effected in some solutions as weak as one part of 5 ppm CS,to 50,000 parts contaminated solution.
Among the many agents tested were botulinum, campyobacter, salmonella and listeria (bacterial agents); and norwalk-like viruses and hepatitus A (viral agents).”
-- Brooks Bradley, Harbone Research Foundation
“Table 2 shows that all tested bacteria were resistant to more than one antibiotic. The important observation was the antibacterial activity of colloidal silver against Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Salmonella typhi, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa which exhibits superior effects when compared with other antibiotics.”
-- International Journal of Microbiological Research, [1 (1): 33-36, 2010] “Colloidal silver as a new antimicrobial agent”
“Properly manufactured, colloidal silver in a concentration of 3-5 ppm has produced excellent results in laboratory testing and has proven to be antibacterial for Streptococcus Pyogenes, Staphylococcus aureus, Neisseria gonorrhea, Gardnerella vagina/is, Salmonella typhi, Bacillus subtilus, Escheria coli and other enteric pathogens and is fungicidal for Candida albicans, Candida golbata and M furfur.”
-- Dr. Larry C. Ford, M.D., UCLA, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, UCLA School of Medicine, November 1, 1988
Not only do the experts agree, but as you’ll learn directly below, so do experienced colloidal silver users who have used colloidal silver orally to avoid expensive trips to the hospital after coming down with food poisoning through to be from Salmonella contamination.
Food Poisoning and Colloidal Silver
While not all food poisoning is caused by Salmonella bacteria, a great deal of it is.
In fact, according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), Salmonella infection is the #2 most prevalent cause of food poisoning in the U.S. today.
Here, therefore, are some real-life testimonials from the Colloidal Silver Success Stories web site, attesting to the fact of colloidal silver’s effectiveness against food poisoning:
“I got food poisoning Friday night. Woke up Saturday at 1am with horrible stomach cramps and frightening diarrhea.

I make my own colloidal silver with
the machine I purchased from The Silver Edge. I immediately started taking about one ounce of 10 ppm micro-particle colloidal silver every 1/2 hour.
By morning 8:00am, I could tell it was over. I truly believe that if I had not started taking it when I did, I would have ended up in the hospital!”

-- Jennifer F., New Franklin, MO
“My girlfriend and I developed either a bad case of stomach flu and/or food poisoning not to long after our Valentine’s Day dinner.
Unfortunately she wasn't able to keep anything down at all, including the colloidal silver. As for me, I immediately began taking about an ounce of colloidal silver every half hour. Within about 4 hours of this routine I was feeling in the "clear" zone.

I thought for certain that I'd be reaching the point of no return and rushing to the bathroom. Thank God this didn't occur. By the very next day I'd say I was feeling about 95% better.

I'm very thankful for this wonderful natural substance and for having had purchased
the generator and having it arrive just in perfect timing to assist in overcoming this obstacle.

This actually makes the 2nd time in this year I've used colloidal silver against a stomach infection. Previously I had used a commercial store bought brand of colloidal silver and I only suffered for about 24 hours while my family battled it for over a week.
They listen closely now when I mention using colloidal silver.”

-- Phillip P., Gettysburg, PA
“Two neighbors got food poisoning from that spinach problem a couple years ago and asked me if I could do anything to help them. So that afternoon I gave them each a teaspoon of silver and they went home.
Next morning, I went to give them more but they said they were fine. They took one more dose any way and the bacteria must have been killed because there were never any problems again.”
-- L.L., Merced, CA
“One evening I stopped to have a cheeseburger at America’s second biggest chain. On the way home I began to feel queasy with stomach pains & gas - I have had it before and I know the signs of food poisoning.
I got home and drank four ounces of silver water -- BAM food poisoning stopped immediately!
-- Dan F., Naples, FL
And here’s an interesting testimonial on food poisoning and colloidal silver, from my 547-page book, The Ultimate Colloidal Silver Manual:
“I was with a business associate working late one Friday night. At about 10:30 p.m. we ventured out to a local big chain restaurant to indulge in a couple of big burgers. We finished for the night at 2:30a.m. I went home and shortly thereafter experienced my first encounter with food poisoning.
If you have ever had food poisoning you can understand that there is no mistaking the symptoms. For those of you not so familiar, it is more than simply getting ill. Imagine your insides have suddenly turned into snakes and are involuntarily convulsing and trying to exit your body. You become ill with such force and for a long enough duration that you wonder if you will ever be allowed another breath.
That’s what I personally experienced. Finally after what seemed an eternity in hell, I was finally released from the clutches of the evil commode.
Weakened and out of breath I gravitated to the medicine cabinet to give the colloidal silver a try, but more seriously thinking about going to the emergency room, since I had just seen a special on TV where a Centers For Disease Control (CDC) report acknowledged that 9,000 people die each year from food poisoning.
I took about one half ounce and went to lay down. The evil commode called me again in about ten minutes, but I was so purged that it was a wasted attempt to try and get anything more from me. I laid down again and now considered more seriously going to the hospital, at the same time though exhausted, I felt better. The only thing that I wanted to do was sleep.
I brushed my teeth, and took a tablespoon more or silver. I applied some essential oils to my abdomen to alleviate the pain from the still present cramping.
Though dehydrated I avoided water for fear of the evil commode. As I began to doze off the thought crossed my mind that I might not wake in the morning. The next day did come, although low on energy I felt I might survive.
I was able to eat breakfast at 8:00a.m. About 1:00 p.m. I called my business associate who was unable to come to the phone, he had become ill and went to the hospital (as related to me by his roommate); the hospital confirmed that he had food poisoning. They reportedly pumped his stomach.
After going home he continued to be too ill to eat or get out of bed for several days, and remained ill and went back to the doctor’s office for continued care for two weeks!
I offered to provide colloidal silver during his ordeal, but his response was basically the same as my initial reaction, ‘it’s probably a lot of bunk.’ He did accept my offer close to the time he recovered, too late for either of us to give it a second thought.
Is this conclusive evidence that colloidal silver cured my food poisoning? Of course not. However, it was more than an interesting coincidence to me.
After this incident I very cautiously began taking colloidal silver more regularly, especially at any sign of feeling run down or when I felt a cold coming on. About three years have now gone by and I have yet to get a cold or flu. Coincidence? I think not!
In January of 1997 I indulged a fine meal at the best Cajun restaurant in town with some friends and family. I hadn’t had oysters in over ten years due to the many reports of their no longer being safe to eat. I was at one of the finest restaurants in town, I thought certainly they get only the finest product from the freshest sources, so in a bold move I took a chance.
As you probably guessed, later that evening, I was once again in the clutches of the evil commode. He was not as forgiving this time. I quickly realized that as bad as the first incident was, it really could be worse! I almost lost consciousness this time, and collapsed briefly when I was finally released.
I wasn’t messing around this time! I had learned to make a much stronger solution of colloidal silver and poured a half of a glass, about 5-6 ounces, and gingerly coaxed it down. This time I wasn’t called back to the evil commode for a final taunting or two. I still wondered about the possibility of not waking up as I dozed off. The sun returned. I was generally fine once again.
Do I have proof that what I have just told you is true? Well my wife, family and close friends were present and could vouch for me.
However, that is not why I am sharing this information with you. It’s not about me proving anything to you. It’s about sharing my experiences and perhaps challenging you to seek your own experiences. The truth is self evident, prove it to yourself!
-- V.G.
The Bottom Line
Of course, the above anecdotal accounts, expert quotes and in vitro (i.e., test tube) clinical studies do not medically prove that colloidal silver will be effective in stopping a case of Salmonella-induced infection because no in vivo (i.e., in the human body) studies have yet been conducted by the medical community.
But they do demonstrate the fact that silver-based antimicrobials kill different strains of the Salmonella pathogen upon direct contact.
And the anecdotal reports from colloidal silver users indicate strongly that colloidal silver may very well be one of the most powerful natural antidotes available against Salmonella infection and the related food poisoning it causes.
In my own case, I’ve successfully used colloidal silver to beat nasty cases of food poisoning on at least three different occasions over the past six or seven years.
In the most recent incident, in which I developed severe stomach cramping after eating half a can of cooked soup that had previously been stored in a food cabinet in the garage during the hot summer heat, the beneficial effect of the colloidal silver was thankfully very quickly realized.
Here’s what I wrote about it on the Colloidal Silver Secrets Community on Facebook:
“Got food poisoning last night from eating a bowl of soup.
So...I drank three ounces of 20 ppm colloidal silver. This caused my body to "flush" (a polite term for diarrhea) three times in a row, over the course of the next two hours.
After the ‘flushing’ ended, I took seven capsules of Lactobacillus acidophilus to help prevent any of the pathogens left from re-colonizing my digestive tract.
Feel pretty good today, overall!”
That’s typically been the result I’ve experienced over the years when I’ve used colloidal silver to stop a nasty case of food poisoning. Whereas others around me have refused the colloidal silver and taken up to a week to recover, I generally recover in 24 hours or less.
If you’ve used colloidal silver successfully against food poisoning, please take a moment to share your experience with others by going to the Colloidal Silver Secrets Community on Facebook and posting a brief note about it.
Since medical science isn’t going to conduct the in vivo (i.e., in the human body) studies needed to demonstrate the effectiveness of colloidal silver against Salmonella infections anytime soon…
…it’s important that we all share our experiences for the benefit of others who may be new to this powerful and effective way of healing infections naturally.
Meanwhile, here are two closely related articles you might enjoy:
Using Colloidal Silver for Healthier Fruits and Vegetables
Colloidal Silver, Canning and Food Preparation
Finally, considering the fact that well over a million people are afflicted with Salmonella infection in this country every year, you can rest assured that as more information becomes available on this important subject, I’ll keep you informed.
Until then, I remain…
Yours for the safe, sane and responsible use of colloidal silver,
Steve Barwick, author
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 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.

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