“Eighteenth-century sailors' disease” discovered in the modern world
Scurvy caused the deaths of millions of people in the 17th and 18th centuries and for a long time was incurable. It is now known how to fight the disease, but it is believed to be a thing of the past. Medics from Canada have described a clinical case demonstrating that in the XXI century scurvy also takes place and is probably more widespread than one might think.
Scurvy is a severe deficiency of vitamin C, or ascorbic acid. In this disease, teeth fall out, gums bleed, and skin cracks. Gradually there is pain during movement, there are hallucinations and extreme fatigue, the body is completely destroyed. Symptoms of scurvy a lot, because of which for a long time it was not clear, one or more diseases behind them are hidden.
Specialists from the University of Toronto in Canada found a 65-year-old woman with a number of nonspecific signs, which after a detailed assessment of her condition attributed to the manifestations of scurvy. The description of the clinical case was published by the Canadian Medical Association Journal.
The patient presented to the emergency department of a Toronto hospital. She complained of leg pain, weakness, lesions and skin discoloration. Because of a limp that had developed several years ago, she had difficulty getting around, including buying groceries and medications, preparing meals, and going to the hospital. She received little support from her family and social services and was virtually isolated from society.
Her diet consisted mainly of canned food (soup and tuna), processed cheese and white bread. Her diet was not varied and balanced, and the lack of fresh vegetables and cereals resulted in a deficiency of important substances for life against the background of several chronic diseases and smoking. The woman did not take any biologically active supplements that could compensate for it at least partially.
“This case is a complex example of food insecurity, which manifests itself in the form of an unusual diagnosis”, - said the medics. According to them, scurvy in the 21st century is more common than it seems. For example, in groups with low socioeconomic status in the UK, the proportion of people with this diagnosis can be as high as 25%.
Because of the non-specific symptoms - fatigue, weakness, shortness of breath - it can be difficult to detect scurvy. However, in the case of the Canadian patient, the diagnosis was confirmed both by the results of blood tests for vitamin C and by the improvement of the condition when the woman started taking the appropriate drug.
According to the authors of the publication, doctors should be more attentive to the level of vitamin C in the blood of patients. Particular attention should be paid to this indicator during the examination of children, lonely elderly people, as well as those who have bad habits or problems with nutrition. It is important to assess the food security of the patient, since in the case of scurvy this is one of the main risk factors.