Frequently Asked Questions
This FAQ will attempt to answer the questions that are most commonly asked.
- What is ASAP Solution?
- What is colloidal silver?
- What does colloidal silver do?
- How does colloidal silver work?
- Is Colloidal Silver safe to take?
- Is all colloidal silver the same?
- Why the Need for ASAP?
- What is ASAP Solution?
- ASAP Solution, a highly effective form of colloidal silver, is a safe anti-microbial disinfectant/supplement that has been proven to act against a wide range of bacteria, yeast, fungal, and viral microbes. A solution of pure water (H2O), containing particles and ions of silver ranging in size from 5 to approximately 50 nanometers (NM). The total silver content is expressed as Parts Per Million. We have three products, in 10PPM, 22PPM and 32PPM strengths, each having slightly different characteristics and uses. ASAP is the highest quality, independently tested silver disinfectant/supplement on the market today, and has been shown to be significantly more effective than any other colloidal silver product tested. This is vitally important because many other colloidal silver products do not have significant disinfectant or supplemental effectiveness.
Top of page - What does colloidal silver do?
- Prior to 1938 colloidal silver was considered to be the most effective antibiotic treatment available. In 1914 the medical journal, "Lancet", reported phenomenal results from its' use. Dr. Henry Crooks showed colloidal silver to be highly germicidal while absolutely harmless, and non-toxic to humans. Colloidal Silver has proven itself useful against most microbes including bacteria, fungi, parasites, protozoa, and certain viruses.
The properties of silver have been known for centuries. The ancient Greeks stored their water in silver vessels to prevent sickness. American farmers used to milk their cows into silver pails to keep the milk from spoiling. Australian Colonials would suspend a silver fork or spoon in their water containers to prevent contamination. Soldiers in the American Civil War swallowed whole silver dollars, (not recommended), to ward off disease. Communion goblets used in churches were made of silver, because it was known to prevent the spread of disease. Prior to 1940 articles regarding benefits of colloidal silver were frequently seen in medical journals. During the 1930s silver was used both externally and internally for a variety of medical conditions. Because of the price of producing medicinal colloidal silver, (back then over $200 an ounce) and the inception of penicillin and other antibiotics, which were at the time relatively inexpensive, the use of colloidal silver fell by the wayside.
Today the bacteria killing qualities of silver are recognized by firms that produce silver- plated Foley catheters and silver lined filters used in many other medical products. High quality medicinal colloidal silver is still considered to be the most universal anti-microbial substance available that is safe for human use.
Top of page - Why the Need for ASAP?
- Today, many bacterial infections are becoming resistant to all antibiotics. Many doctors and hospitals are finding bacteria increasingly difficult to eradicate as resistant strains develop, sometimes even changing their natural structure to fight off the antibiotics. The application of stronger, more toxic antibiotics is not an option since these concentrated doses pose a threat to humans, many of whom may already be allergic or are having strong reactions to these cures. The fact that these bacteria are becoming resistant is not new information.
On October 23, 1994, the Los Angeles Times printed an article titled: "Arsenal of Antibiotics Failing as Resistant Bacteria Develop." The article goes on to state, "In the last decade, a broad resistance to antibiotics has begun to emerge. And because the bacteria can transfer genes among themselves, experts only expect the resistance to grow. The potential nightmare is an Andromeda strain, a super-microbe immune to all known antibiotics."
In 1994 Newsweek featured a six page article titled, "Antibiotics, The End Of The Miracle Drugs?" It was the cover story. The article states, "The rise of drug-resistant germs is unparalleled in recorded history." It goes on, "Penicillin and tetracycline lost their power over staph back in the 1950's and 60's. Another antibiotic, methicillin, provided a backup for a while, but methicillin-resistant staph is now common in hospitals and nursing homes worldwide...Trying to cripple the bacteria's defenses...will not do much more than buy us five to ten years...A better strategy might be to abandon antibiotics altogether in favor of different kinds of drugs."
The September 1995 issue of Time Magazine featured an article titled, "Revenge of the Killer Microbes". The article states, "Faced with AIDS and with an ever increasing number of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, doctors were forced to admit that the medical profession was actually retreating in the battle against germs. The question ceased to be, "When will infectious disease be wiped out?" and became "Where will the next deadly new plague appear?"...Humanity once had the hubris to think it could control or even conquer all these microbes. But anyone who reads today's headlines knows how vain that hope turned out to be. New scourges are emerging -- and older diseases like tuberculosis are rapidly evolving into forms that are resistant to antibiotics... In 1992, 13,300 hospital patients died of infections that resisted every drug doctors tried."
Has drug resistance slowed down since 1995? No! Quite to the contrary, bacteria are becoming more resistant and deadly strains can develop very quickly, sometimes within hours. Staphylococcus aureus bacteria, for example, (the leading cause of infection in hospitals, also known as just "staph") now has over 2,800 different strains to its evolutionary credit. In an article released on July 10, 2001 on the Washington (AP), it states: "Staph bacteria can quickly swap genes with relatives to turn into virulent, dangerous germs that can cause disease and resist antibiotics, a new study shows... This is occurring at a far more greater frequency than we anticipated, said Musser (the scientist who did the study), the drug resistant strains can be created many times. It is not a single strain that is created once and then spreads. Slayers, who is president of the American Society for Microbiology, said the work by Musser is important because it confirms what has long been suspected - that whole gene structures can jump from bacteria to bacteria, creating new strains of antibiotic resistant bugs within a matter of hours."
The question now becomes an individual one. What can I do to keep my family and friends safe from these new strains of deadly bacteria? We as parents are obviously not willing to sit around and watch our loved ones die of diseases that were once so easily treated! But what can we actually do?
Stronger antibiotics are not the answer, despite what some may claim. The side effects of these drugs are dangerous and deadly. The question may not be if you can survive the disease, but will you survive the treatment? On May 29, 2001, in the USA Today responses to editorials section, NNFA CEO, David R. Seckman wrote, "How safe are prescription drugs? According to the Journal of the American Medical Association, safe enough to make them the fourth-leading cause of death in the United States. And what about over-the-counter medications? Popular painkillers such as ibuprofen, the New England Journal of Medicine says, cause 17,000 deaths per year."
This does not mean, however, that prescription antibiotics do not have their place. Antibiotics save many lives every year. But the best use of antibiotics may be one of last resort, instead of being used for every little problem that an individual encounters. Most doctors will readily agree that it is the huge over-use of antibiotics that is causing the resistance problem in bacteria. So, what can a mother or father use to treat sick children or loved ones - not to replace - but as an alternative to antibiotics? Is there any other product that will kill bacteria and also be safe to use on a daily or weekly basis? (By Keith W. Moeller, American Biotech Labs).
Top of page - What is colloidal silver?
- If you look at a glass of water taken from a swiftly flowing stream, it probably looks clear. If you wait a couple hours however, you will likely see a layer of silt on the bottom of the glass. It looked clear because the silt was too fine to see... until it settled out of the water. The dispersion of silt in water is called a suspension. But, if you take a class of clear water and pour in some salt and dissolve it, you will change its basic molecular or atomic structure. If you were to wait days or even weeks, the salt will never "settle out" to the bottom of the glass. This is called a solution. The difference between a suspension and a solution is the smaller size of the particles and this basic change in molecular structure.
A colloid has particles of matter with diameters between 10 to the -4 and 10 to the -7 centimeters, too fine to settle out of water because the effect of gravity cannot overcome the buoyancy of the water. Colloidal silver is simply a suspension of silver particles that fall in the range of diameters between 10 to the -4 and 10 to the -7 centimeters and thus are too small to ever settle out, however still maintain their atomic or molecular identity.
Top of page - How does colloidal silver work?
- It is not know exactly how colloidal silver works against microbes. However, because many forms of bacteria, fungus, and viruses utilize specific enzymes for their metabolism it is thought that the silver decomposes the enzymes that they depend on for their metabolism. Silver acts as a catalyst, effectively disabling these enzymes. Because silver does not attack the microbes directly, they do not develop a resistance to silver. Because all living organisms need to metabolize a supply of energy to live, blocking that energy supply quickly kills the microbe or reduces it to an inert state.
Another theory postulates that the cell walls of microbes are thinner and more susceptible to the effects of the silver and thus are killed whereas the larger entities have thicker cell walls and are not effected.
The specific details are not critically important. However, it is very important that the process involves a far more general mechanism than existing targeted antibiotics available today use in killing bacteria. Thus, colloidal silver is effective against a much wider range of bacteria, viruses, fungus and micro organisms.
An article in Science Digest (March 1978, p57) states: "An antibiotic kills perhaps a half-dozen different disease organisms, but silver kills some 650. Resistant strains fail to develop... Even tiny amounts of silver wipe out huge quantities of disease organisms in water... after testing 23 methods of purifying water, NASA selected a silver system for the space shuttle."
Top of page - Is Colloidal Silver safe to take?
- For 35 years, NAMSA has been providing toxicity testing services to the healthcare industry, ensuring medical device safety and compliance. ASAP Solution was submitted to NAMSA for Acute Oral Toxicity Study in early 1999 and test results issued on July 7, 1999. The test, called the LD-50 test was performed in accordance with the guidelines of the Federal Hazardous Substances Act (FHSA) Regulations, 16 CFR 1500. In the test work, ASAP Solution was given to both male and female test rats. The rats were given 5grams per kilogram of body weight of 22PPM silver, or the equivalent of a 200 lb man taking 192 teaspoons of the ASAP 10PPM Solution at one time, (the normal adult dosage is one teaspoon/day). As a result of the test work, NAMSA reported, "Under the conditions of this study, there was no mortality or significant evidence of toxicity observed in the rats. The test article (ASAP Solution) would not be considered toxic at a dose of 5g/kg by oral route in the rats."
In a second independent study, Dr. Roger J Altman, Phd. consumed from 1 mg to 2.34 mg of silver in colloidal solution per day every day for nearly six months, (many time the recommended dosage), in the context of an in depth study of the body's ability to eliminate the silver. Dr. Altman reported: "Ingestion of properly prepared colloidal silver does not result in silver accumulation in the body. There is no evidence that silver deposits significantly in hair or fingernails and, in fact the data support the conclusion that after taking more than 2 mg of silver in colloidal form per day for several months, silver seems to be purged from the body (mostly through urine) at about the same rate at which it is consumed. Furthermore, upon ceasing colloidal silver intake, it appears that at least 80% of the residual silver residing in the body tissue will be purged in about 3 months. Even this relatively short residence time could be reduced by a factor of 3 if several liters of water are consumed daily."
By contrast. "Untoward toxic effects of antibiotics are well known; they range from death from anaphylaxis or aplastic anemia with penicillin and chloramphenicol, respectively, to severe diarrhea from lincosamides, rash from ampicillin, nephrotoxicity and ototoxicity from the aminoglycosides, and bleeding disorders with some of the new betalactam antibiotics" Calvin Kunin goes on in the text, Principles and Practice of Infectious Diseases, to say; "It would be comforting to believe that ill-effects of antibiotics are always either trivial or rare. But that is not what the textbooks say. It would also be comforting to believe that antibiotics cause ill-effects only when they are overused and abused. That is not true either."
Top of page - Is all colloidal silver the same?
- It might appear that all colloidal silver solutions are about the same. Nothing could be further from the truth. In fact that is one of the main reasons that colloidal silver is not approved or recommended by the FDA, (see FDA). The fact is, that because there is no definitive or final source of information nor any enforceable standard for production of generic "colloidal silver", anyone and their mother-in-law can go on the Internet and about $100 and two to three days later... they could be in full production of generic colloidal silver. Is there any control over the particle size or dispersion of the silver in this product of the kitchen table? Do the producers know what they're doing? Or have any idea even what the issues are with regard to the requirements for high quality medicinal colloidal silver solution? Of course the answer is a resounding NO! Therefore, it is extremely important for consumers to find a silver solution that is quality controlled and tested by independent laboratories as meeting the particle sized and dispersion standards established by years of research and testing of the effectiveness of the various products available. There are very good reasons why the FDA has been resistant to provide a grand fathered approval for generic uncontrolled colloidal silver. Properly produced, high quality medicinal colloidal silver is, or can be, a very powerful germicide essentially killing every microbe it comes in contact with and causing very little if any toxic side effects. The issue is standards and controls. In addition, no governmental or independent agency has taken on the task of fulfilling the FDA's New Use Protocols, testing and proving safety and effectiveness requirements... that highly important and consuming process of getting FDA approval. There is also the fact that because of the lack of control... there is also no scarcity of supply... therefore, no particular profits to be made and many times unfortunately, these issues boil down to money.