Silver - A Noble History in Health Care
By Cindy Clark 
A truly noble element, silver has made history for millennia, proving its mettle as one of the earth’s most precious metals – and very first antibiotic. Silver gave birth to wealthy empires around the globe beginning in China around 900 BC. Ancient Egyptians considered it magical and used it to ward off evil. Merchants and traders banked on it. Aristocrats toasted it and doctors operated with it. And while gold gets top billing, it’s silver that continues to make the everyday world go ‘round. Consider its uses in modern-day merchandise by the innovative company founded by entrepreneur Sharon Whiteley, TRU47, with everyday health and wellness in mind. Silver is the core element of all.
TRU47 products, from masks, wraps and wipes to spritzes, skincare, scarves and more, each meticulously designed inhibit the growth of germs, fungi and viruses including odor-causing bacteria.
Its intrinsic antimicrobial properties were first documented by Hippocrates, the “Father of Medicine,” who wrote of using silver to improve wound care and limit infection. Silver gained a sterling reputation for its sanitizing swagger in the centuries that followed, valued as currency, and spoilage savior for mariners, merchants and men of means. History points to the Phoenicians’ preference for storing water, wine and vinegar in silver bottles to prevent spoiling. Ancient Greeks, Romans and Macedonians were reputed to use silver to keep the immune system strong thanks to its antiseptic properties. And sailors used to throw silver coins into their milk to keep it from spoiling on long journeys before modern refrigeration.
Wealthy families in the Middle Ages, a time rife with unsanitary living conditions, were known to gift silver spoons, naturally hygienic, to babies to keep bacterial illnesses at bay. English royals were believed to be healthier than the commoners they ruled thanks to their use of disease-defying silver utensils, plates and goblets.
Hundreds of years later across the pond, silver coins were dropped into drinking water barrels for protection against water-borne illness, and during the Civil War, silver was used to treat syphilis and battle wounds. In the 1880s, the use of silver nitrate in the eyes of newborn infants to prevent post-delivery infections was introduced. First discovered in the 1890s, colloidal silver became many physicians’ treatment of choice for boosting the healing process for their patients. Today you’ll find it in TRU47’s skincare products and inhalers to support and enhance overall well- being, along with nourishing essential oils.
Before the advent of manmade antibiotic drugs in the first half of the 1900s, silver was a leading player in the medical field, where it was commonly used in wound coverings, sutures and surgical instruments. In the mid-1960s, Johnson Space Center developed a lightweight generator to dispense silver ions into the drinking water aboard the Apollo spacecraft to kill bacteria, and in 2015, NASA approved the use of a silver-based water purification system aboard the International Space Station.
Its history as an effective germ-fighter remains untarnished today. All of which begs the following questions, especially in light of COVID and flu season concerns.
What if you could wear a mask, gloves and scarf threaded with 99% ionically plated silver to disarm opportunistic viruses when out and about in crowded places?
Or wrap handles handled by countless unfamiliar hands with an antibacterial silver cover to protect you from unhealthy organisms?
Or spray and wipe away thousands of germs on suspect surfaces with a sanitizing silver spritz or germ-fighting Stellarcleenz cloth?
Or safeguard your skin with silver-formulated soaps and creams that deter infectious invaders?
You can, thanks to the folks at TRU47 who are remaking history with a virtual treasure chest of silver bullets to ensure your well-being.