Silver is a very powerful antibiotic.
On my birth certificate, there is a spot for “Eye treatment” or somesuch, and it has AgHO3 in the box.
Silver Nitrate.
They use (or at least used to) an antibiotic treatment in the eyes to prevent infections that the infant might come in contact to from passage through the birth canal.
And Silver Sulfadiazene is still the treatment of choice for severe burns.
It promotes healing and prevents infections.
Oooopps, typo, not AgHO3, AgNO3.
I need a brighter light on my keyboard...
It’s a decent topical antibiotic that was passed over in the thirties by others that were more effective at the time. I’ve seen little concrete evidence that it is all that effective when ingested.
Silver is making something of a comeback, particularly silver nanoparticles, due to antibiotic resistant strains of bacteria such as MRSA, but these applications are environmental or topical, not internal, as far as I can see. In fabrics, used as burn wraps to prevent infection, etcetera.
I’m not at all opposed to alternative medicine and could be persuaded with a few decent studies or trials, from PubMed or similar source. I’m all ears.