Eytons' Earth: Natural & Alternative Medicine

[eytonsearth]

Transferred from a different thread ( from guest user circle_willis ):

...I presume that you're using CS as a bacteriostatic/bacteriocidal or antibiotic agent? I'm curious if you have heard about any resistance developing from its overuse. I'm a practitioner who has used silver compounds for certain problems, mainly in poorly healing ulcers. I read some research articles about a year ago that showed bacteria are developing resistance to colloidal silver and other silver compounds because many people are overusing it. It's gotten so bad in some areas that silver compounds are worthless for certain infecitons.

Just something to think about while using those CS spray bottles.

[eytonsearth]

Concerning bacterial resistance to silver:

I've viewed citations concerning specialized forms of bacteria ( not found as infective agents in humans ) developing a temporary resistance to silver in soil. The same bacteria was removed from the silver-rich environment, and the bacteria then quickly lost it's resistance.

I've also seen references to some orally-present bacterial developing a resistance, as well as some clinically significant studies ( www.o-wm.com/owm/sn/pdf/Part3.pdf ).

The following references support my long-held supposition that bacteria does not easily develop a resistance:

From World Wide Wounds, Nov, 2004:

"The problem of resistant bacteria has been exacerbated by the uncontrolled use of antibiotics, so a range of alternative measures are required to prevent the development of further resistance and manage infections. These include antibacterial preparations and dressings that contain silver."

"...Although some bacteria can develop resistance to silver [88], this is not regarded as a serious problem as available evidence suggests that most preparations capable of delivering sustained silver-ion release are effective against MRSA and VRE, and as yet no resistant strains have been encountered clinically [89]. It follows, therefore, that any silver-containing dressing that shows acceptable levels of activity against a range of non-resistant bacterial species should show comparable activity against antibiotic-resistant strains of the same organism."

www.worldwidewounds.com/2004/november/Thomas/Introducing-Silver-Dressings.html

"... One possible mechanism is that the silver and mercury in amalgam dental restorations may select for bacteria that contain heavy metal and antibiotic-resistance determinants, leading to the spread of these resistances, particularly if they are contained on the same mobile genetic element. The incidence of silver-resistant bacteria on teeth is investigated in this work. Two silver-resistant Enterobacter cloacae isolates were isolated from infected teeth containing dental restorations. Both isolates were also resistant to ampicillin, erythromycin, and clindamycin. The silE gene, which is encoded on the silver resistance operon, has been sequenced from both isolates. Results suggest that the silver resistance operon is encoded on plasmid DNA."

www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1399-302X.2005.00218.x

My understanding is that the mechanism by which bacteria can develop a resistance to silver is not "energy efficient" for the organism. While it is something to keep in mind, I don't think we'll see mass silver resistant bacteria strains as a widespread problem.