Over many years, cultures understood the value of copper in obtaining and maintaining great health. Many forms of copper and copper compounds such as copper carbonate, copper silicate, copper oxide, copper sulfate, copper chloride were used throughout history for the treatment of disease. Copper has been used for medicinal purposes as far back as ancient Egypt, Greece and Rome as well as in the ancient Aztec civilization.
An ancient Egyptian medical text, known as the Smith Papyrus mentions using copper as a sterilization agent for drinking water and wounds. Another text, known as the Ebers papyrus mentions the use of copper for headaches, "trembling of the limbs," burns, and itching. The island of Cyprus provided a readily available supply of copper to Greece and is known to have provided much of the copper needed for the empires of ancient Phoenicia and Rome as well. It has also been documented that Israels Valley provided copper for the Pharaohs.
Thought from the time of the Romans let us know that copper and its derivatives were firmly established as important drugs. In Roman thought, there are details of numerous uses for copper, along with specific instructions for the preparation of the particular form of copper recommended for each disease or condition. Among these specific directions are a copper oxide mixture made with raisin wine, saffron and myrrh for the treatment of venereal disease and a copper mixture made with rose oil for chronic ulcers.
The ancient Aztec culture used copper for medical purposes, including gargling with a copper mixture for sore throats. In ancient India and Persia, copper was used to treat lung diseases. Copper compounds such as malachite and copper oxide were used on boils and other skin conditions. Copper acetate and copper oxide were used for eye infections. Evidence also shows us that nomadic Mongolian tribes used copper sulfate, taken by mouth, to treat venereal ulcers.
The first recorded observation of coppers role in the immune system in modern times was published in 1867 when it was reported that, during the cholera epidemics in Paris of 1832, 1849 and 1852, copper workers were immune to cholera.
A French physician, reported using copper acetate in his practice to treat arthritic patients. For external application he made a salve of hogs lard and 30% neutral copper acetate. For internal treatment, he used pills containing 10 mg. of copper acetate.
In the late 1800s, in a published review of the pharmacological actions of copper compounds, copper arsenate was reported to treat acute and chronic diarrhea as well as dysentery and cholera. An organic complex of copper developed by Bayer was shown to have curative powers in the treatment of tuberculosis. Copper treatment for tuberculosis continued until the 1940s.
As early as 1912, patients in Germany were treated for facial epithelioma with a mixture of copper chloride and lecithin, suggesting that copper compounds might assist anti-cancer activity.
Recent work with mice in the U.S. has shown that treatment of solid tumors with non-toxic doses of various organic complexes of copper markedly decreased tumor growth and metastasis and thus increased survival rate. These copper complexes did not kill cancer cells but caused them to revert to normal cells. Based on work in the treatment of cancers using copper complexes, researchers have found that these same complexes may prevent or retard the development of cancers in mice under conditions where cancers are expected to be induced.
First observed in rats in 1936, numerous studies have drawn attention to the relationship between copper deficiency and heart disease, which effect has now been traced to both a deficiency in copper and an imbalance in the copper-to-zinc ratio in the body.
In 1939, the German physician, Werner Hangarter, noticed that Finnish copper miners were unaffected by arthritis as long as they worked in the mining industry. This observation led Finnish medical researchers plus the Germans, Hangarter and Lübke, to successfully use a mixture of copper chloride and sodium salicylate to treat patients suffering from rheumatic fever, rheumatoid arthritis, neck and back problems, and sciatica.
Coppers role in the immune system has recently been supported by observations that individuals suffering from of disease generally die of immune system-related phenomena and other infections. Further, animals deficient in copper have been shown to have increased susceptibility to bacterial pathogens such as salmonella and listeria. This kind of evidence has led researchers to suggest that copper compounds not only can cure various conditions, but can aid in the prevention of disease.
Copper jewelry worn directly on skin has been used for a hundred years or more as a remedy for many ailments, including arthritis. Now, copper bracelets to ease joint and arthritis pain are ubiquitous in health food stores, and health magazines and catalogues.
