The Skeptics flyer on colloidal silver (see the section on the Website) prompted this interesting correspondence from a doctor dealing with it.

Argyria and the whole food supplement issue is very controversial. There are almost no statistics available (that I know of anyway) since many of the people taking colloidal silver remain absolutely convinced that the silver will prevent almost any disease. This was the case with my patient. These patients often refuse to be photographed and continue to take, and even sell colloidal silver. It is disputble that the claims that colloidal silver cures AIDS, leukaemia etc are, at the very least unsubstantiated and certainly prey on the most vulnerable in society.

The risks of colloidal silver are great, as illustrated by the case I reported in “Clinical and Experimental Dermatology”. Unfortunately, the exact amount of silver required to cause these dramatic skin changes is shrounded in mystery, as these patients generally are very evasive about how much they have been taking and what concentration of silver used etc. I would certainly support any move to investigate further the toxicity of colloidal silver and to limit the sale of this dangerous chemical before the data become available.

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