Scurvy is a disease caused by a diet that lacks vitamin C (ascorbic acid).

Patients develop anemia, debility, exhaustion, edema (swelling) in some parts of the body, and sometimes ulceration of the gums and loss of teeth.

The name scurvy comes from the Latin scorbutus. We have known about the disease in humans since ancient Greek and Egyptian times.

Scurvy commonly is associated with sailors in the 16th to 18th centuries who navigated long voyages without enough vitamin C and frequently perished from the condition. Modern cases of scurvy are extremely rare.

Humans cannot synthesize vitamin C, which is necessary for the production of collagen and iron absorption. We have to obtain it from external sources, i.e. from fruits and vegetables, or some foods which are fortified with vitamin C in order to prevent the vitamin C deficiency known as scurvy.

causes

The primary cause of scurvy is insufficient intake of vitamin C (ascorbic acid). This may be due to ignorance, famine, anorexia, restrictive diets (due to allergies, food fads, etc.), or difficulty orally ingesting foods. Historically, scurvy was the result of long sea voyages where sailors did not bring along enough foods with vitamin C.

Though scurvy is a very rare disease, it still occurs in some patients