Cod Liver Oil Uses from 1898 Encyclopedic Text

Excerpts from: King's American Dispensatory on Cod Liver Oil, By Harvey Wickes Felter, MD and John Uri Lloyd, Phr.M, PhD, 1898

This 1898 classic revision of Professor John King's original work of 1852 is an encyclopedic text that encompasses the entire materia medica of the Eclectic physicians of the last century.

The term Eclectic Medicine was coined by Dr. Constantine Rafinesque (1784-1841), a physician who lived among the Native Americans, and observed their use of medicinal plants and other traditional therapies. The Eclectic Medical Institute was created in the early 1830s in Ohio as an alternative to the conventional medicine of the time. Eclectic physicians adopted in practice whatever modality was beneficial to their patients.

Dispensatories [pharmacies] present therapies whose effectiveness has been verified with patients in both clinical and hospital settings. The following entry excerpt details the medical actions, uses and dosage of cod liver oil.

Action, Medical Uses, and Dosage

Cod-liver oil is nutritive . . . It has long been used as a domestic remedy in chronic rheumatic [rheumatism; any disorder of the extremities or back, characterized by pain and stiffness] and strumous diseases [tuberculosis of the lymphatic system, mainly affecting the thyroid], especially in the Northern parts of Europe, and has been in general medicinal use only since . . . 1841, although employed occasionally in the profession as early as 1766.

Cod-liver oil is a remedy for defective nutrition, and when tolerated can be relied upon to give good results; but if it provokes persistent nausea, vomiting, disgust, and diarrhea, it can not be expected to be other than harmful - Bee's Note: Such reactions are "not harmful" in any way, since they are natural healing reactions the body creates when it receives nutrients that help it heal itself. As recommended later in this article, starting with small doses and gradually increasing them minimizes such healing reactions, until a full-dose of cod-liver oil can be taken.

Cod-liver oil is a fat-producing agent, excelling other fats which have been proposed as substitutes for it, in digestibility. When cod-liver oil "is kindly received by the stomach it increases the quantity of red corpuscles, improves the appetite and general strength, and the pulse becomes full and strong, flesh increases, and nutrition is improved" (Locke's Syllabus of Mat. Med., p. 346). Though used for many conditions, it has been shown to do the most good in the [people who are] poorly nourished . . .

Other Conditions

The diseases . . . in which it is said to be most efficient, are cutaneous [skin] diseases, as in eczema, fungal diseases of the skin, impetigo, ringworm, etc. Gout, and occasionally caries [cavities in the teeth], it is said, have yielded to its influence. It is also asserted to have been found useful in diseases of the joints and spine, lupus, obstinate constipation, worms, and incontinence [unable to restrain natural discharges] of urine; and may be advantageously employed in all chronic cases, in which the disease appears to consist mainly in impaired digestion, assimilation [use of nutrients and absorption], and nutrition.

External Application

Externally used in opacities [white film] of the cornea [eye disease called glaucoma], a drop or two placed on the cornea with a camel's-hair pencil . . .

. . . also in various chronic cutaneous [skin] diseases. . . including rashes, eczema, and fissures [cracks in the skin]. . .

. . . little advantage will be apparent from the administration of cod-liver oil, until its use has been persevered [continued] in for 5 or 6 weeks, though it often commences [starts] earlier.

Dose

The light-colored oil is the best. Some prefer the darker colored oils. The dose of cod-liver oil is 1/2 fluid ounce [of high vitamin cod-liver oil only, doses may need to be higher for other brands], twice a day, or more; but it is best to begin with small doses at first, say 1 drachm only [about 3/4 of a teaspoon, or 3.55 ml], in order to lessen the risk of nausea and vomiting [caused by healing reactions]. Patients soon accustom themselves to its use . . .

Dr. Alexander Wallace recommends a mixture of equal parts of lime-water [calcium-rich water] and cod-liver oil, well shaken together, as a . . . sedative [helps sleep], antacid [settles the stomach], and nutrient; it forms a thick, milky emulsion [mixture] . . .