[Donnah (OP)]

Can anyone explain the difference between colloidal silver and ionic silver?  It's my understanding that colloids are particles suspended in liquid, while ions are dissolved. 

Is it true that silver ions have a positive charge and silver colloids have a negative charge?  How does this happen, and what does that mean when used internally and externally in the human body?

[chiralSPO]

You are correct. Colloidal silver is a suspension of neutral metallic silver particles. Ionic silver refers to silver with a plus one charge, which can be soluble in water (as in silver nitrate or silver triflate), or insoluble (like silver chloride or silver carbonate.)

[RD]

... what does that mean when used internally ... in the human body?

You become a smurf ... http://www.thenakedscientists.com/forum/index.php?topic=21258.msg238569#msg238569

[ see ... http://www.quackwatch.com/01QuackeryRelatedTopics/PhonyAds/silverad.html ]

[Donnah (OP)]

Are we conditioned to think that more is better?  The "blues" were taking huge amounts of silver!
Maybe that's why the royal families are historically referred to as bluebloods;-)
And why some aliens were reported to be blue:-0

There's certainly a lot of negative press about Quackwatch:

http://www.raysahelian.com/quackwatch.html
http://quackpotwatch.org/quackpots/quackpots/barrett.htm
http://www.anh-europe.org/news/quackbuster-stephen-barrett-md-loses-appeal-and-leaves-home-town

Our civilized society still has predators claiming whatever we want to hear, so good research is important.  Unfortunately, the more gravely ill a person is, the less likely they are to have the time, money, and energy to sort raw data into meaningful information.  That's why I appreciate thenakedscientists.com website and the good people who are willing to help.

BTW I'm healthy now.