Silver has shown to contain some medicinal properties. Scientists have been taking notice and are experimenting with adding silver to common everyday items and some antibiotics.

The opinions on whether silver should be used in medicines are mixed. Many say that silver is an excellent bacteria fighter and when in nano-particle form it is even more potent at killing micro-organisms. Silver kills the bacteria by destroying the physical structure of the cells and because of this unusual attack bacteria are unable to build up a resistance to the silver nano-particles as they do to antibiotics.

Due to silver’s ability to reduce and kill bacteria, a new cream has been developed that contains silver, silver-sulfadiazine. This cream is used on burns. Before the addition of the silver, patients would endure very painful bandage changes every 12 hours. Now with sliver, bandages only need to be changed every 24 hours.

Not everyone thinks using silver is a good idea, particularly Kempsville High Schools biology teacher Mr. Hehl who disagrees with using silver in antibiotics. “I think that silver can have some bad effects on people. I feel like the negative side effects would outweigh the benefits of the antibiotics,” Mr. Hehl said.