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History of the medical effects of silver

Silver bowls and vessels for storing and transporting water have been found in the burials of rulers of the fourth millennium BC. Silver is a healing additive in traditional Chinese and Indian medicine (Ayurveda). In ancient Egypt, a silver plate was applied to a wound to heal it, just as a cupcake leaf is used. The holy books of Hinduism describe how to disinfect water by briefly immersing heated silver in water or by constant contact with it under normal conditions. It is no coincidence that, according to Indian tradition, thin silver strips are constantly eaten with food to prevent intestinal infections. The historian of the ancient world Herodotus (484 - 425 BC) reported that the Persian king Cyrus II the Great (558 - 529 BC) kept water in silver "sacred vessels" during his expeditions. The army of the Great (365-326 BC) invaded India. An epidemic of gastrointestinal diseases broke out on the banks of the Indus, which surprisingly did not affect any military commander. It turned out that ordinary warriors used tin dishes, and their commanders used silver. This was enough to disinfect water and food. Traveling American pioneers often poured a silver dollar into milk to delay souring. In some countries, it was customary to drop silver coins into the well, which improved the quality of the water, and store the water in silver bowls while the well was being blessed. Silver is widely used in all religious ceremonies and rituals. Medical works written in the holy language of the Gods - Sanskrit - testify to the healing properties of silver.

The works of many famous ancient physicians - Hippocrates (lived around 400 BC), ancient doctor Galena (born 130 AD), Avicenna (born 980 AD) - also contain information about the benefits of silver compounds in the treatment of various diseases. Paracelsus (alchemist, born 1493) treated epilepsy and jaundice with lapis (silver nitrate).

On August 23, 1897, at the 12th International Medical Congress in Moscow, the French doctor Besnier Crede announced the successes in the treatment of sepsis with silver. Continuing his research, he found that silver killed diphtheria in three days, staphylococcal bacteria in two days, and typhus germs in 24 hours. In Russia, colloidal silver was highly appreciated by doctors, which contributed to its active use in field surgery during the Russo-Japanese War of 1904. Silver was widely used to treat wounds of Soviet soldiers during the Great Patriotic War. Medicine has been using silver for over 4,000 years, since it was not a science but a primitive practice.