Scurvy is largely a historical disease, but there are signs it is making a comeback

Scurvy is often considered a historical disease, evoking images of sailors on long sea voyages affected by a lack of fresh vegatables and fruits.

However, doctors in developed countries, including Australian doctors, have recently reported treating cases of scurvy reported their findings today within the diary BMJ Case Reports.

What is scurvy?

Scurvy is a disease brought on by a severe deficiency of vitamin C (ascorbic acid), which is mandatory for the production of collagen. This protein helps maintain the health of skin, blood vessels, bones and connective tissue.

Without enough vitamin C, the body cannot properly regenerate tissues, heal wounds or fight infections. This can result in a row symptoms including:

• fatigue and weakness
• swollen, bleeding gums or loose teeth
• pain and tenderness in joints and muscles
• bruises easily
• dry, rough or discolored skin (reddish or purple spots brought on by bleeding under the skin)
• cuts and wounds take longer to heal
• anemia (lack of red blood cells resulting in further fatigue and weakness)
• increased susceptibility to infections.

This has affected sailors up to now

There was scurvy common from the fifteenth to 18th centuries, when naval sailors and other explorers lived on rations or went for long periods without fresh food. You can have heard about a number of the milestones within the history of this disease:

• within the years 1497-1499Vasco da Gama’s crew he suffered seriously from scurvy during an expedition to India, as a results of which a large a part of the crew died

• from the sixteenth to the 18th centuryscurvy spread amongst European navies and explorers, affecting notable figures corresponding to Ferdinand Magellan and Sir Francis Drake. It was considered certainly one of the best threats to the health of sailors during long voyages

• in 1747British naval surgeon James Lind He is believed to have conducted certainly one of the primary clinical trials to indicate that citrus fruits could prevent and treat scurvy. However, it took several a long time before his discoveries were widely implemented

• in 1795the British Royal Navy officially adopted the practice of giving sailors lemon or lime juicedramatically reducing the variety of cases of scurvy.

Evidence of re-emergence of scurvy

In a latest case report, doctors from Western Australia reported treatment of a middle-aged man with this disease. In a separate case report, doctors in Canada reported treats a 65-year-old woman.

Both patients had leg weakness and broken skin, although doctors didn’t initially consider scurvy. This was based on premise that there is a lot of vitamin C in our modern food, so deficiencies shouldn’t occur.

In each cases, treatment with high doses of vitamin C (1,000 mg day by day for no less than seven days) resulted in symptom relief and eventual complete recovery.

The authors of each case reports fear that untreated scurvy may result in inflammation of blood vessels (vasculitis) and potentially cause fatal bleeding.

Last yr, a large hospital in New South Wales undertook: chart reviewduring which patient records are reviewed to reply research questions.

Vitamin C deficiency has been found to be common. More than 50% of patients whose vitamin C levels were tested were either moderately deficient (29.9%) or severely deficient (24.5%). Deficiencies were more common in patients from rural areas and lower socioeconomic status.

Now they are doctors he insisted consider vitamin C deficiency and scurvy as a potential diagnosis and seek support from a dietitian.

Why might scurvy come back?

Obtaining and consuming nutritious foods that contain enough vitamin C is unfortunately a problem is still a problem for some people. Factors that increase the chance of vitamin C deficiency include:

• bad weight loss plan. People on restricted diets – as a result of poverty, food insecurity or dietary decisions – might not be enough vitamin C. This also applies to individuals who rely heavily on processed, nutrient-poor foods relatively than fresh produce

• food deserts. In areas where access to fresh, inexpensive vegatables and fruits is limited (often called food deserts), people can inadvertently suffer from vitamin C deficiency. In some parts of developing countries, corresponding to India, lack of access to fresh food is a problem considered a risk for scurvy

• cost of living crisis. With more people is unable to pay for fresh producePeople who limit their fruit and vegetable intake may experience nutrient deficiencies, including scurvy

• Weight loss procedures and medications. Restricted food intake as a result of weight reduction surgery or weight reduction medications may result in nutrient deficienciesas on this one case report of scurvy from Denmark

• mental illnesses and eating disorders. Conditions corresponding to depression and anorexia nervosa can result in severely restrictive diets, increasing the chance of scurvy, e.g. case report as of 2020 in Canada

• insulation. Older people, especially those living alone or in nursing homes, can have this difficulty preparing balanced meals with the suitable amount of vitamin C

• specific diseases. People with digestive disorders, malabsorption disorders, or on restrictive medical diets (as a result of severe allergies or intolerances) may develop scurvy if: is unable to soak up or devour enough vitamin C.

How much vitamin C do we want?

Australian Dietary Guidelines recommend adults devour 45 mg of vitamin C (more if pregnant or breastfeeding) every day. This is about as much as you’ll find in half an orange or half a cup of strawberries.

When there is more vitamin C digested than required, the surplus is excreted from the body within the urine.

Symptoms of scurvy may appear inside a month of consuming lower than 10 mg of vitamin C day by day.

Eating foods wealthy in vitamin C – corresponding to oranges, strawberries, kiwi, plums, pineapple, mango, peppers, broccoli and Brussels sprouts – may improve symptoms inside a few weeks.

Vitamin C is also available as a complement if there are the explanation why your dietary intake could also be in danger. Typically, supplements contain 1000 mg per tablet, a recommended upper limit day by day intake of vitamin C is 2000 mg.