The many health benefits of colloidal gold have been documented for decades. The Ancient Egyptians were among the first to use it to treat illness, as well as purify mind, body, and spirit.
It may not be quite the 'elixir of life' the Egyptians thought it was, but they weren't completely wrong. With advantages including glowing skin, improved mood, and better concentration, it truly is a powerfully beneficial mineral.
Colloidal gold is a suspension of gold particles in a fluid that has been used in therapeutic treatments for cancer and arthritis. It's also been used as an indicator for immunodiagnostics.
Colloidal gold nanoparticles are a promising drug delivery platform for targeted cancer therapies. Their small size, non-toxicity, and non-immunogenicity make them useful for bypassing the body's natural barriers and obstacles. For example, colloidal gold-bound tumor necrosis factor (TNF) is a substance that's being studied in the treatment of some types of cancer. In this treatment, a cancer-killing protein called TNF is bound to the surface of tiny gold particles, which may kill cancer cells without harming healthy tissue. Colloidal gold nanoparticles in particular are a promising drug delivery platform for targeted cancer therapies, and recent years have seen nanomedicine formulations containing colloidal gold enter clinical trials as anticancer therapeutics.2,3 The success of gold colloids in this domain will hinge on their safety for repeated systemic administration and their ability to deliver drugs specifically and efficiently to tumors. Both safety and drug-delivery performance depend (to some extent) on the disposition and clearance of the colloids.
Another use of colloidal gold nanoparticles is in focal therapy, a procedure that uses laser light to excite the nanoparticles and cause a focused ablation of prostate tissue. Because blood vessels and cancers are leaky, the tiny gold particles can escape and lodge in the tumors, destroying the tissue while sparing the rest of the prostate.
colloidal gold-bound tumor necrosis factor
(kuh-LOY-dul ... TOO-mer neh-KROH-sis FAK-ter)
A substance being studied in the treatment of some types of cancer. Colloidal gold-bound tumor necrosis factor is made in the laboratory by binding a cancer-killing protein called tumor necrosis factor (TNF) to the surface of very tiny particles of gold. These TNF-gold particles may kill cancer cells without harming healthy tissue. Also called Aurimmune and TNF-bound colloidal gold
Desgrez A, Veyne S. Les isotopes radioactifs dans les hépatites alcooliques subaiguës et cirrhogènes [Radioactive isotopes in subacute and cirrhogenic alcoholic hepatitis]. Rev Int Hepatol. 1968;18(2):389-400. French. PMID: 4883042.
