Scurvy

Scurvy, the old-time sailor’s disease, is still very real today. A prolonged vitamin C deficiency caused by a lack of fresh fruits and vegetables can lead to Scurvy. If you don’t take enough vitamin C, your body isn’t able to produce collagen, a protein essential to keeping your skin, tissues, and blood vessels healthy. What happens next is a cascade of symptoms, starting with gum bleeding, constant fatigue, joint pain, and even anaemia.

Scurvy was once infamous among sailors stuck at sea. But today, it shows up in people with eating disorders, poor diets, or chronic illnesses that limit their nutrient absorption. The good news is that it is easily treatable and entirely preventable. Let’s take a look at how.

1.0What is Scurvy?

Scurvy is a disease caused by a prolonged deficiency of vitamin C. Its symptoms are all signs that your body is struggling without this essential nutrient. Even though it is rare, it still exists today. Its origin dates back centuries, with records dating back to ancient Egypt and Greece. But, it is most famously linked to sailors from the 16th to 19th centuries. 

Also known as the pirate’s disease, scurvy affected sailors who went on long voyages without any fresh fruits and vegetables and fell seriously ill. A lot of them didn’t survive. Outbreaks were seen during the American Civil War and the Irish Potato Famine. More recently, in 2002, there were cases after the war and drought damaged food supplies in Afghanistan.

Scurvy is rare in places like Europe and the US. However, areas facing conflict, poverty, and food scarcity still see cases of scurvy. The takeaway from this is that this very old, but very real disease, can be prevented by a few servings of fresh produce every day.

2.0What Are the Symptoms of Scurvy?

The symptoms of scurvy show up in stages. In the beginning, they are very subtle, but over time, they turn serious. You might feel that you are just a little run down, but as the deficiency gets worse, the scurvy symptoms become hard to ignore.

1. Early Symptoms

• Constant fatigue
• Pain in your joints and muscles
• Diarrhoea
• Fever
• Nausea
• Loss of appetite
• Bleeding around hair follicles

2. Advanced Symptoms

• Loose, wobbly teeth
• Swollen, soft, and purple gums that bleed easily
• Bulgy eyes
• Bleeding under the skin
• Dry, brown, scaly skin
• Bleeding inside muscles or joints, resulting in stiffness and swelling
• Stunted bone growth in children
• Old scars bleeding and unhealed wounds

People with scurvy don’t usually have just one or two symptoms. They often experience a mix of early and late-stage signs, depending on how long the deficiency has lasted.

3.0What Causes Scurvy?

At its core, scurvy disease happens when there’s not enough vitamin C in the body. But what leads to that?

Here are the common causes of scurvy:

• A diet lacking fruits and vegetables
• Unusual or highly restrictive eating habits
• Eating disorders like anorexia
• Smoking, which interferes with vitamin C absorption
• Chronic alcoholism or mental health conditions that limit proper nutrition

Back in the 18th century, British naval ships stocked up on limes for every long voyage. Why? To fight off scurvy. It worked so well that British sailors earned the nickname "limeys,” a name that’s stuck around ever since!

4.0Scurvy Treatment

The good news is that the treatment for scurvy is very simple and highly effective. All you have to do is reintroduce vitamin C to your diet, and your symptoms will start to fade in as little as 48 hours.

Scurvy treatment includes:

• Consuming more fresh fruits and vegetables. Make sure to include leafy greens, citrus fruits, bell peppers, and tomatoes in your diet.
• Consult with your healthcare provider and take vitamin C supplements.

Sometimes, when the symptoms aren’t obvious, you might have to take a blood test to confirm the diagnosis. Early intervention is the key as it helps prevent painful complications later on.

5.0Different Sources of Vitamin C

Vitamin C might’ve been discovered in the 1930s by Hungarian biochemist Albert Szent-Györgyi, but it had been saving lives long before that, though unknowingly. Millions of sailors had died from scurvy disease before anyone even knew why.

Vitamin C is vital for:

• Healthy bones and skin
• Tissue repair
• Maintaining blood vessels and connective tissues

Wondering where to get your daily dose? Here are some top sources:

Vegetables & Herbs

• Red and green chilli peppers
• Bell peppers
• Spinach, kale, and other leafy greens
• Potatoes

Fruits

• Guava
• Lemons and limes
• Papayas
• Oranges
• Strawberries
• Blackberries
• Kiwis

Consuming just 10 mg of vitamin C every day can prevent scurvy. That is the amount in a small orange or a single lemon.

6.0Scurvy Effects

If left untreated, scurvy can seriously impact quality of life. Here is what you can expect:

• Feeling weak and fatigued all the time
• Severe pain in muscles and joints
• Mental fog
• Depression
• Tooth loss
• Bleeding gums
• Skin covered in bruises, especially on the skin
• Reduced immunity, which makes you vulnerable to infections
• While scurvy sounds like an outdated condition, it still exists today, especially among people with improper diets. So, you have to be careful.