Is there any SCIENCE behind nebulized colloidal silver?

[aristokat]

My horse has a terrible mold allergy. He was put in a paddock with a round bale recently. I wasn’t aware of this until several days later when I was told he was coughing (by his partboarder - I only see him once a week lately).

Usually, when something triggers his allergies (it’s more than just mold - new things “blooming” will also trigger it occasionally) he gets one pack of dex for three days, and it’s under control. He can go for months without a flare-up. This time, it didn’t work.

I bought a nebulizer yesterday. A “Flexineb”. Darned thing cost a fortune but if it helps, whatever. I then went to pick up more dex at the vet and asked them to have the vet contact me to tell me what to do with the nebulizer. I had no idea what to put in it.

Vet says to give him two packs of dex for two days, then one pack for two more days. Also said that she will get together what I need for the nebulizer but to hold off until the dex does its job and his airways are open, that the nebulizer will work better for maintenance once this flare-up is under control.

So here’s my question: I’m going to be giving him dex injection in the nebulizer. I’ve given him dex injection orally in the past, so I understand that. What I don’t understand is that she said to give it diluted with colloidal silver.

I love my horse’s vet. She’s been his vet since 2007 and always done right by him. But is there any SCIENCE behind this recommendation? I’ve searched and searched and only been able to find one study done on mice that said, “These findings suggest that instillation of Ag-NPs causes transient moderate acute lung inflammation and tissue damage. Oxidative stress may underlie the induction of injury to lung tissue. Moreover, the expression of metallothionein in tissues indicated the protective response to exposure to Ag-NPs.”

Can anyone de-code this for me in layman’s terms? https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24579810 Is the recommendation to give him nebulized colloidal silver sound?

[x-halt-salute]

That PubMed abstract just states that in an experiment where silver nanoparticles were put into the tracheae (windpipes) of mice (typically by inserting a syringe down the little anesthetized critter’s throat – not by having it breathe in the substance), the mice developed signs of swelling and damage to their lung tissues. This experimental treatment can’t necessarily be equated to the type and dose of colloidal silver your vet recommends, so don’t panic about lung damage on the basis of this one bit of research.

Silver has some antiseptic properties that have been recognized for a long span of history. Silver sulfadiazine is an old school burn cream (that incidentally I’m a fan of for treating horse bed sores). Some water purification systems use silver. But while I can understand nebulized steroid to treat respiratory allergies, I’m not sure what a not-terribly-potent antiseptic might do in this situation… there’s not a lot of research out there to support its use for respiratory allergies or inflammation.

Can you ask your vet why colloidal silver is the recommended medium for dex dilution? It sounds like a reasonable thing to ask for clarification about.

[aristokat]

To be fair to my vet, she was really just regurgitating what a colleague had said she recommends. She was going to get more info for me. But it all just seems a bit hocus pocus to me.

I do know that silver has its uses. But in the lungs?

Edited to add: My concern really is about the total lack of research. My vet isn’t one to be recommending things that aren’t supported…

[shayaalliard]

excessive use will turn humans permanently blue…

[J-Lu]

I’ll check it out in the next day or two!