The era of antibiotics is coming to a close. In just a couple of generations, what once appeared to be miracle medicines have been beaten into ineffectiveness by the bacteria they were designed to knock out. Once, scientists hailed the end of infectious diseases. Now, the post-antibiotic apocalypse is within sight.
Hyperbole? Unfortunately not. The highly serious journal Lancet Infectious Diseases yesterday posed the question itself over a paper revealing the rapid spread of multi-drug-resistant bacteria. “Is this the end of antibiotics?” it asked.
Doctors and scientists have not been complacent, but the paper by Professor Tim Walsh and colleagues takes the anxiety to a new level. Last September, Walsh published details of a gene he had discovered, called NDM 1, which passes easily between types of bacteria called enterobacteriaceae such as E. coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae and makes them resistant to almost all of the powerful, last-line group of antibiotics called carbapenems. Yesterday’s paper revealed that NDM 1 is widespread in India and has arrived here as a result of global travel and medical tourism for, among other things, transplants, pregnancy care and cosmetic surgery.
Pretty scary. First I’ve heard about NDM 1.
Found by Gasparrini.
#7 Animby said:
Animby my friend, your ignorance of science, politics, the new hyper-fascist-capitalism and perhaps, medieval and ancient history is showing again.
You better start rounding up the Russians, NASA and all others involved in the ISS Space Station.. they all use the same process in the water recovery systems to keep the water sterile/free of bacterias.
I eagerly await to see the lawsuits for gross misuse of public funds and tainting the water supplies of astronauts, thusly exposing them to “considerable risk for absolutely no benefit.
Perhaps you should also start lawsuit against the NIH and the makers of Contreet-the (silver) bandages I have use for woundcare.
The *are* making “health” claims..
http://ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16722854
Open a case against all Burn units while your at it..
Some day, you may wish to let your mind out of the box it is in. -it may actually learn something.
-s
I have done several years worth of research and personal experimentation with silver colloid on myself and others who wished also to try it. The results have always been far and above all expectations and claims.
Extra credit: ever wonder how the phrase “it’s no Silver Bullet” came about? or one of the “Blue Bloods” myths? or why in old and ancient times, milk and water was stored in silver casks or a silver coin put in a regular cask to keep it from spoiling during the journey?
You will never know the truth unless you personally desire and seek it yourself. Get cracking buddy, time is short.
-s
holy crap..
i had left this thread open in my browser the past day or so..when there were only 12 replies when i just now hit “submit”
-what a cluster fk.
#37 The Silver Genie
-great response.
I was too lazy to make such well documented response, as i have found too many people are auto-programmed to debunk or ridicule the facts of sliver, even when blitzkrieg lights are shining upon centuries of evidence.
Hat’s off to you.
-s
I too want to thank #37 The Silver Genie for his excellently supported post. I confirm the first study regarding the synergystic/additive effect of sliver colloids.
There is also a very strong “corruption” in Medicine by Big Pharma not researching drugs/techniques that they cannot profit by. Thats ok in a vacuum until it “drives out” well founded, safe, cheap alternatives.
Animby==you came out strong against silver. TIME and interest are always in short supply. Is your curiosity peaked, or is this all old hat?
#43 bobbo, “Is your curiosity peaked, or is this all old hat?”
No, I’m afraid it’s pretty much all old hat. I know perfectly well about the application of silver salts for severe burns. I also am aware of the use of silver in the treatment of water. (I live in SE Asia and I guarantee you there is a silver/ceramic filter on my drinking water supply!)
I also know that there has never been a scientific study confirming the use of silver colloids as a health-promoting dietary component. Not one.
Soundwash claims he has spent years doing research. This research did not apparently include the etymology of “silver bullet” or “blue bloods” and I guess he has forgone the modern convenience of refrigeration for silver casks and silver coins. No his research was based on self testing and anecdotal evidence and, no doubt, a large amount of applied hucksterism.
If Soundwash wants me to apologize, I will be happy to do so. All I require is ONE prospective, double-blind, scientific study published in a mainstream, peer-reviewed medical journal demonstrating the benefits of colloidal silver as a curative treatment.
Just one.
Animby – Old Hat eh? I hate hats, old or new, unless I’m in the hot sun, then just about any will do?
I hate experts. Can never tell if they are spinning, demonstrating a blind spot, are behind the times, or just telling it like it is.
I won’t try to double check. My memory of the Bring Them Young study referenced by Silver Genie mentioned it was “quiet” (such an irritating adjective) but not that it was double blind or peer reviewed. I also take your info on aspirin at face value. I was of the impression it was more a “refined” product of the willow which in modern times had found industrial chemical sources? Don’t know if that is a quibble or exactly what you meant?===or even what I mean by that comment. Ha. Ha.
Water purification, diet supplement, drug synergy/additive==three very different applications. Lots of fraud in every other consumer oriented “colloidal anything” that I have seen.
Temperature cooling off at night this week. Makes the night time toddy a real pleasure. Thanks for overcoming old issues and continuing to post.
I’m not all that fond of experts, either. I was taught early that x=unknown while a spurt is a drip under pressure. What I am even less fond of are pseudo-experts who claim to know so much that science does not. Whether it’s creationists or medical quackery.
Aspirin. Willow bark has been used for centuries for many of the same purposes as aspirin. The Frenchman who first synthesized acetylsalicylic acid may very well have been trying to achieve an analog of the willow bark. I don’t know. But I can tell you that the compounds are different and aspirin has a much greater effect than willow bark (salicin).
What are you doing awake so early in the morning? Isn’t it like 0430 where you live? Here in northern Thailand, the monsoons have arrived and really cooled things off. Now, at 1900 it’s a lovely 82F out and the rains seem to have stopped for the day. I’m going to go sit in a coffee shop for a while, get a nice massage and then some fiery fish for dinner. I love my spicy Thai food.
And aspirin.
I am adding the other 3 of the studies 4 on MRSA.
I don’t want to leave anybody out. And no, they are not dbl blind studies that I am aware of, but please see bottom comments to address that issue.
Case #2: Iranian Clinical Study Proves Silver Increases Effectiveness of Antibiotic Drugs Against Staph – This study was conducted by the Department of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology and Medical Nanotechnology Research Center, Faculty of Pharmacy and Medical Sciences at the University of Tehran, Iran. Say what you will about the Iranians, but when they do a medical study, they do it up right. Apparently Iranian scientists were two full months ahead of the Brigham-Young team above in proving that the addition of silver to antibiotic drugs boosts their ability to kill resistant staphylococcus aureaus.
The study was called, “Synthesis and effect of silver nanoparticles on the antibacterial activity of different antibiotics against Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli.” In part, the researchers demonstrated:
“Silver nanoparticles (Ag-NPs) have been known to have inhibitory and bactericidal effects. Resistance to antimicrobial agents by pathogenic bacteria has emerged in recent years and is a major health problem. …these [silver] nanoparticles were evaluated for their part in increasing the antimicrobial activities of various antibiotics against Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli. The antibacterial activities of penicillin G, amoxicillin, erythromycin, clindamycin, and vancomycin were increased in the presence of silver nano-particles (Ag-NPs) against both test strains. The highest enhancing effects were observed for vancomycin, amoxicillin, and penicillin G against S. aureus.”
So once again we see that it is the addition of silver to the three specific antibiotics (vancomycin, amoxicillin and penicillin) that almost magically renews the effectiveness of each of these antibiotic drugs against today’s most deadly pathogens, including staphylococcus aureus (aka MRSA). Silver, as usual, is the key!
Case #3: Taiwanese Clinical Study Proves Colloidal Silver By Itself Kills MRSA – Another study, this one conducted in Taiwan, also demonstrated that silver colloids kill both MRSA and Pseudomonas aeruginosa, another deadly and extremely opportunistic superbug. In this study, a special colloidal silver solution was tested on contact surfaces where the deadly pathogens are known to colonize, and from which they can spread to humans. The silver solution proved to be completely effective against both the MRSA and Pseudomonas super pathogens.
The study, which demonstrated conclusively that silver could be applied to contact surfaces to stop colonies of MRSA super pathogens from forming, was titled, “Formation of colloidal silver nanoparticles stabilized by Na(+)-poly(gamma-glutamic acid)-silver nitrate complex via chemical reduction process,” and was conducted at the Department of Textile Science, Nanya Institute of Technology, Chung-Li, Tao-Yuan, Taiwan. It was published in the journal Colloids Surface B Biointerfaces in October 2007.
Case #4: Czech Clinical Study Proves Silver Particles Kill MRSA – This study was conducted at the Department of Physical Chemistry at Palacky University in the Czech Republic. It was later published in the prestigious Journal of Physical Chemistry B in August 2006. Titled “Silver colloidal nanoparticles: synthesis, characterization, and their antibacterial activity,” the study demonstrated that…
“…silver particles with a narrow size distribution with an average size of 25 nm, which showed high antimicrobial and bactericidal activity against Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria, including highly multi-resistant strains such as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA).” The study further demonstrated that very low concentrations of silver could be utilized to destroy MRSA, as long as the silver particles were very small, averaging 25 nm.
Once again we see silver showing “high antimicrobial and bactericidal activity” against “highly multi-resistant strains” including MRSA.
So why haven’t the medical bureaucrats been shouting from the rooftops about this? Because they do not want to jeopardize the multi-billion dollar annual sales of prescription antibiotic drugs by telling the world that something as simple and inexpensive to produce as colloidal silver could solve the whole problem and save tens or perhaps even hundreds of thousands of lives worldwide every year.
Even when studies show that liquid colloidal silver taken in conjunction with failed antibiotic drugs actually restores the antibacterial activity of those drugs, the FDA still doesn’t budge. It won’t admit it has been wrong all along about silver!
Animby #44
“I also know that there has never been a scientific study confirming the use of silver colloids as a health-promoting dietary component. Not one.”
True, I actually cannot find a satisfactory one either. I just know what I’ve experienced with myself, family and pets and I have to tell you that I don’t even tell my dogs they are getting Ionic Silver so as not to invoke the placebo effect. Prescription drugs do not work on their annual ear infections, but the Ionic Silver does in 2 days. Our Vet uses Ionic Silver on his pets now on his own pets now since we told him about it’s results. FACT.
Even the negative propaganda and misrepresentations don’t match up with double blind studies. I have to say that a dbl blind study is difficult to refute.
So, if that is what you trust, that is fine and I can’t argue with your convictions.
Myself, I would rather trust Ionic Silver than the results of these double blind study products, please visit this site:
http://vaughns-1-pagers.com/medicine/prescription-drug-side-effects.htm
Please after looking at the link, can you please explain to me and the others why you trust these products.
You might even get some of us to change our minds, after all, all these products have been tested and approved for medical use.
The problem is simple. We are feeding the stuff to livestock and spraying it on plants and using it on humans even if the infection is a virus instead of using it with restraint on those few cases where it is actually needed so yes. In most countries antibiotics will soon be worthless.
There are one or two countries that have limited the use of the antibiotics to the point that it will most likely continue to effective against most local bacterial infections.
As for those that didn’t. That’s what evolution is all about. Removal of the stupid and the foolish from the gene pool. That in this case it will work on a national level hardly matters.
#46–Animby==just to be clear: when I say “hate” I actually mean “love to consider carefully what is being offered.” Aspirn at least seems pretty straight forward, one only needs to look at the name of the two different things being discussed.
Sadly, as much fun as it is to practice pseudo-expertise in fields I did not qualify in, I must wait for science to gain a consensus before accepting an issue as PRAGMATICALLY verified and ready to use. The exceptions, like the source of stomach ulcers, are so few and far between that traditional scientific consensus must be the default position.
Anti-biotic, aka colloidal metals of all kinds, are another interesting “concept” by the name alone: anti-life. What else is that metal killing besides the nastie du jour? Until science tells us, I will remain FATALISTIC and allow my genetics and general health to play out in Darwin’s Jungle. Of course, on deaths door, bring in the shamans–whats the harm, on deaths door?
There must be a “core” psychological difference between those enjoying the twilight of day vs night? While I actually do experience both quite regularly, I find the night twilight to be so very much more relaxing. A day well concluded? Winding Down, recapitulation of the day’s accomplishments. Just the reverse of the challenging sun.
I hate /// err, I love to consider closely what the new day sun is offering.
Sunrise, blasting Bright
Rousing the dead once again
Seeking blissful night.
Speaking of “anti-biotics:” — our mania for sanitized this and that is going to do us in:
http://newscientist.com/article/mg20727735.300-antibacterial-socks-may-boost-greenhouse-emissions.html?DCMP=OTC-rss&nsref=online-news
#47 Silver Genie: What can I say? You’ve cited cases but not provided links to them to check the methodology or results.
Case #2 IIRC, was an in vitro study and used silver nanoparticles NOT colloidal silver ingestion.
Case #3 – did not involve the study of silver compounds in the human body – only on “contact surfaces.” In general, the inside of the human body is not at all like the porcelain surface of a siink.
Case #4 – Again, the information provided seems to indicate an in vitro study as the results were published in a journal of physical chemistry and the study involved NANOparticles not colloidal silver solutions.
Then you provided a link to a site called Vaughn’s Studies. Hmmmm. He provides a list of the number of “complaints” about a few drugs that had been posted on another website. The most complaints went to Yasmin, an oral contraceptive. It didn’t say if those complaints were from women who used it for birth control, those who used it for skin conditions or those who used it to control premenstrual syndromes or symptoms of endometriosis. It also does not include the number of patients who have actually used the drug – many millions.
I see amoxicillin damned for having had 35 complaints posted. Do you realize how many hundreds of millions (billions?) of doses of amoxicillin have been consumed? If you find a canned sardines page, I’d bet you could find many more complaints than that.
Then your reference site does one of the most unusual things I have ever seen: it lists the possible side effects of ALL drugs and then lists a few specific drugs apparently trying to associate them with the list. In my student years, I participated in a few clinical trials. If, while taking a drug, a single patient had a passing case of nausea, then nausea was officially listed as a possible side effect, no matter how tenuous the association with the tested drug.
This site makes many claims that are simply ludicrous. The “Benefit/Risk” graphic made me laugh out loud. There was absolutely no information in them at all.
If this is the quality of your research, then enjoy your silver. No amount of rebuttal will satisfy you.
#48 deowll : I couldn’t agree with you more. Antibiotics are handed out like candy – except more people worry about candy consumption! You know, I love it when a patient challenges me on a prescription. It gives us both a chance to think it through and maybe decide they should try to just let things progress normally.
#49 & 51 bobbo : I hope it is many years before you are death’s door but, when the times comes, please get in touch with me and I’ll try to get there, put on my feathered headdress and best grass skirt and do the dance of special healing while spraying a mixture of rum and colloidal silver all over you.
Thanks for the article on silver socks. I’m all in favor of using nanoparticles to improve the world – though I’m not sure fewer smelly feet is the place to start. I do wish they’d slow down a bit. The nano world is a world of strange.
Animby–what excellent bedside manner you have. But I thought I made it clear in other posts that on my death bed I want to wipe my ass with a monkey. You should find that in my Directive to Physicians, Permitted Modalities of Life Extension. I’d hold out for quite a long time to wipe my ass with a monkey, and yes, I’d have to be dying to try it.
Bobbo: So, you’re dying to try it? Monkeys are really a form of advanced ass wiping. Maybe you get Perkel to loan you a squirrel to get started.
I’m off to a clinic in northern Laos. Unless there’s a cell phone tower up there, I’ll have to leave the commenting to you and Soundwash for a few days.
Have fun. And get some sleep!