At this point, the framework was established for the introduction of a complete nutritional therapy consisting of the necessary vitamins, minerals, proteins, fats, and glucose.

Accumulated discoveries spanning across decades finally started to deliver nutritional products, while newly found methods allowed us to isolate specific micronutrients, then synthesize them into pharmaceutical products that include sterile solutions meant for IV.

The concept of taking in food intravenously began to evolve between the 1950s-60s. Until that time, IV nutrition was limited to specific vitamins, minerals, glucose, and fluids – but there was still nothing available that could replace food entirely in patients who were unable or prohibited from eating food or drinking fluid by mouth.

During the 1950s, physicians were aware of the negative effects of starvation or malnourishment on patient mortality and recovery, but there was still not enough understanding of the correlation between adequate nutritional support in patients and positive clinical outcomes. Feeding patients who were unable to eat remained a major problem to solve.

During this time, it was thought impossible to intravenously administer a complete nutrition formula containing all nutritional necessities in the form of macronutrients and micronutrients.

The status of IV nutrition support changed in the 1960s following the development of an effective total nutrition solution that could be administered intravenously. The first investigation was completed on Beagle puppies by Stanley Dudrick and Douglas Wilmore, surgeon researchers at the University of Pennsylvania.

They continued testing IV nutrition on adult patients malnourished from a variety of surgical complications and gastrointestinal conditions. After that, a human infant was successfully fed intravenously, which then resulted in widespread clinical application of Total Parenteral Nutrition (TPN).

Total Parenteral Nutrition (TPN), or nutritional treatments designed to intravenously provide everything patients they need to survive, has been available for 50 years. However, history in this field goes back more than 350 years. The first milestone was the discovery of general blood circulation by William Harvey in 1628.

His description became the anatomical basis for intravenous infusion. Many investigations were performed during the following centuries, showing that solutions containing electrolytes and glucose could be given intravenously in humans.

There were a variety of attempts at using intravenous therapies to treat different conditions. Unfortunately, many patients ended up being guinea pigs in experiments that lead to illness or death.

The period of experimentation following William Harvey’s discovery resulted in a variety of dangerous ingredients people attempted to administer intravenously including the blood from different animals to increase their vitality, their libido, or to heal disease. This is prior to understanding the importance of sterility, blood typing, and other important considerations.

Many of these therapies were based on limited scientific knowledge and strongly held religious beliefs common in that time. For example, there are recorded stories of people who attempted IV infusion of lamb’s blood to promote longevity, reportedly based on the biblical references comparing Jesus to a lamb. Unfortunately, many patients died during or after treatment.

However, these experiments paved the way for what we know today about intravenous nutrition.

Another important milestone occurred during the 1830s when there was a cholera outbreak in England in 1831. Many people subsequently died because there was no available treatment as the disease started to spread.

Around that time, a young physician named William O’Shaughnessy from Ireland pursued an interest in studying cholera as he witnessed so many people dying from the disease. He traveled to Europe and, using his knowledge of chemistry, examined the blood and stool of his cholera patients.

He made crude measurements of the electrolytes in both specimens and determined that the patients were severely dehydrated. To treat the dehydration, Dr O'Shaughnessy developed a hypotonic IV solution that resulted in improved survival for the patients who received it. That might be the first recorded clinical implementation of IV nutrition.

Today, 80% of hospitalized patients receive IV therapy. A large percentage of medications are now administered by IV. IV therapy is becoming more widely used in extended care facilities and home care solutions.

The IV formulations offered at Defy Medical are prescribed for nutritional supplementation.

Nutritional supplementation is used to treat a specific condition or to provide an outcome. These IV infusions, including the Myers cocktail, can provide nutrients and minerals that perform many helpful functions.

TPN solutions, meanwhile, are designed to provide all the nourishment needed for survival and are given to patients who cannot eat on their own. TPN is not possible without first understanding the effects of micronutrients and being able to produce them as stable solutions for injection.

Modern IV nutrition continues to increase in popularity and demand today. Since there is not enough financial incentive for big research around the effects of these therapies, hopefully, the continued development and feedback from practicing physicians contributes to our understanding of the effects nutritional supplementation can have towards clinical outcomes and quality of life in patients.