Tetrasil

Tetrasil (also known as Imusil, Genisil, Aviralex, OXi-MED, Beta-mannan, Micronutrient, Qina and SlicPlus) is tetrasilver tetroxide as used in alternative medicine for bacterial, fungal, and viral infections, and which is claimed to be a cure for AIDS and cancer.

There is no convincing evidence that Tetrasil is good for AIDS or cancer, though the very little research which has been done on it suggests that Tetrasil may be effective for wounds and ulcers.

Some conspiracy theorists allege that that the medical establishment is trying to suppress Tetrasil use for cancer and AIDS, with one claiming AIDS is man-made. They will often suggest people Google for "5676977", the number of a patent for using Tetrasil as such a cure.

The sale of Tetrasil as a medical treatment is banned in Zambia because it is unproven.

What is it?
Tetrasil is a chemical pharmaceutical poison silver (I,III) oxide (other names include TST, Silver (II) Oxide, and silver peroxide).

Tetrasil appears to be pretty popular among naturopaths and other nature-inclined people, and products containing TST are often promoted with holistic buzzwords. One wonders why, since, by alternative medicine standards, "tetrasilver tetroxide" should be a toxic, synthetic chemical; Tetrasil doesn't come from plants or animals, and it's certainly not natural (it is made by slowly adding AgNO3 to a Na2S2O8 solution). The popularity of Tetrasil among alternative medicine users may be due to the earthy, back-to-nature marketing scheme used by companies selling it. It may also be due to association with the popular alternative treatment colloidal silver.

TST also has some non-medical uses that could be used very effectively for chemophobic fear-mongering:
 * TST is a pesticide used to disinfect swimming pool water.
 * TST is highly toxic to aquatic species.
 * Typical Material Safety Data Sheets identify silver oxide as a Category 2 Oxidizing Solid. OSHA standards define an "oxidizing solid" as "a solid which, while in itself not necessarily combustible, may, generally by yielding oxygen, cause, or contribute to, the combustion of other material. …"

The fact that silver oxide is used to disinfect swimming pools was, in fact, used to promote Tetrasil. But ironically, the use of certain substances for non-medicinal purposes such as cleaning and disinfecting is often touted by alternative medicine supporters as proof of toxicity or "unnaturalness" by association. ("Do you really want to put chemical detergents into your body?!?!?!")

At any rate, the difference between Tetrasil and conventional drugs lies not in any supposed "naturalness"; rather, Tetrasil is quite simply an unapproved pharmaceutical. No more, no less.

Tetrasil cream used to be sold by Aidance Skincare, until the FDA sent them a warning saying they were making unsubstantiated health claims and (therefore) selling an unapproved new drug. The company now sells a different cream named Terrasil, whose "maximum strength" and over-the-counter medicated ointment versions include silver oxide (now listed as an inactive ingredient).

Evidence
Not much research has been done, but preliminary studies done on the compound so far suggest silver oxide may be good for wounds and ulcers. Silver oxide nanoparticles have antimicrobial properties in vitro but are toxic.

One page hosted by extremely paranoid conspiracy site Rex Research promotes Tetrasil as a cancer treatment and lists many patents held by a Tetrasil company. However, if there's a patent for it, that doesn't necessarily mean it's good; there are many patents, for instance, involving perpetual motion machines.

This is what part of the site has to say:

Here is a passage from one of the studies (the page which hosts it also claims there is such a thing as AIDS without HIV):

From this publicly available passage, it appears there is no placebo control group. In addition, as far as can be gleaned from PubMed, the study apparently has not been published in any journals, let alone peer-reviewed ones. Even if it has, the findings need to be independently replicated by other researchers.

If a pharmaceutical company promoted one of its drugs on the basis of an (apparently) unpublished, unblinded, uncontrolled, non-peer-reviewed study available only on its own website, that would clearly be unacceptable. Why should alternative medicine companies get a free pass?