Could cod liver oil help combat tuberculosis?

Cod liver oil was revealed to be an effective treatment for tuberculosis (TB) in a historical study from 1848, with modern scientists claiming the report may still have prevalence today.

The study, conducted at the Hospital for Consumption, Chelsea (now the Royal Brompton Hospital), tested over 500 patients using standard treatment and cod liver oil, and a similar amount of control patients receiving the standard treatment alone.

The results showed that improvement rates were similar, but the disease was stabilised in 18 per cent of the patients given cod liver oil, 12 per cent more than those without the vitamin. 14 per cent less people given cod liver oil suffered deterioration in their condition or death.

Professor Sir Malcolm Green, commenting in BMJ, believes that improvements in nutrition may have been the defining factor in reducing tuberculosis deaths in the late 19th century and early 20th centuries.

He adds that today many patients who develop TB in the UK are found to be Vitamin D deficient. TB accounts from millions of deaths annually around the world, and there could yet be a role for vitamin D in combating the disease.