Scurvy

What could be the sickness that causes bleeding from the gums and sores and puss, we have been nowhere but at sea? So many seafaring men and ships doctors wondered what this illness was when they saw it appear. Scurvy, also known as vitamin c deficiency, is a horrible thing for us to go through physically and centuries ago was fatal if not treated. Our bodies depend on vitamin c for collagen production and for other anti-oxidant benefits. As humans we do not have the gene that other animals have to produce our own vitamin c and therefore we need to consume foods as a source to absorb this nutrient. Vitamin c deficiency or scurvy itself is said to go back as far as 400 BC, but there is definite reports of the disease during the crusades and the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries. It was most common amongst sailors and seafaring ships and crews,

although it did present itself on land during times of severe shortages and crisis, and in third world countries where food is a scarcity. During World War I for example the soldiers would go weeks without fresh fruit and some suffered vitamin c deficiency while on the fronts.

Symptoms

When suffering from vitamin c deficiency the human body shows these very specific and gruesome signs.

Spots on the skin usually on the legs and thighs
Bleeding gums and mucous membranes
Pale skin
Depression
Pussy open sores
Loss of Teeth
Immobilization and lethargy
Cures

There were many thought up cures for vitamin c deficiency and the scurvy cures were many. Most of them always involved fresh fruits, juice of fresh fruits, acidic drinks like wine or even sulphuric acid as a medical treatment. In the end it wasn’t until the middle of the 1930`s that the actual ingredient in foods that we need to stave off vitamin c deficiency was discovered and that was the ingredient ascorbic acid which was chemically synthesized and mass produced a year later, virtually eliminating vitamin c deficiency altogether. We quickly started studying the benefits of vitamin c soon after the isolation of ascorbic acid and the study goes on even today.

Vitamin c deficiency still arises from time to time in our society and around the world. The elderly and babies are most susceptible to the deficiency. Baby formula is fortified with vitamin c to prevent vitamin c deficiency, but occasionally breast milk is not well fortified as the mother may not be well nourished, or the baby is drinking regular cow’s milk. In regards to the elderly, many elderly are alone and are malnourished, and vitamin c deficiency seems to go hand in hand with malnutrition. So make sure you and your family is getting fresh oranges, lemons and apples and there is some truth to the saying “An apple a day keeps the doctor away”.