by: Jonathan Benson
(NaturalNews) The amazing infection-treating properties of silver seem to be flooding the pages of scientific journals these days, as researchers, scientists, and medical experts are finally fessing up to the fact that this unique element possesses healing properties far superior to pharmaceutical antibiotics and drugs. And a new study published in the Society for Applied Microbiology journal Letters in Applied Microbiology reveals that silver is fully capable of killing yeast-based mouth infections caused by Candida albicans and Candida glabrata.
"With the emergence of Candida infections which are frequently resistant to the traditional antifungal therapies, there is an increasing need for alternative approaches," commented Henriques about her findings. "So, silver nanoparticles appear to be a new potential strategy to combat these infections. As the nanoparticles are relatively stable in liquid medium they could be developed into a mouthwash solution in the near future."
To many in the natural health community, these findings may not necessarily be all that revolutionary as thousands of people have been using ionic and colloidal silver solutions internally to fight off disease and infection, and externally on wounds to boost healing and prevent infection. For centuries, in fact, silver has been used for medicinal purposes, that is until the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) began marginalizing it in favor of pharmaceutical drugs in the 1940s.
In 2000, researchers from China and Korea found that silver is also an effective treatment against Escherichia coli (E. coli) and Staphylococcus aureus (staph infection). Tests revealed that silver effectively unhinges the cytoplasmic membranes from bacterial cell walls, and prevents the DNA of these bacterial mechanisms from replicating. In essence, silver was found to demobilize deadly bacteria and prevent it from spreading.
"Colloidal silver has a long history in medicine as a natural antibiotic," writes Walter Last in his book The Natural Way to Heal: 65 Ways to Create Superior Health. "It is very effective in killing bacteria, viruses, fungi, parasites, and the cancer microbe, and no serious side effects from overdosing have been reported."