Doctors in the United States faced the deadly disease 18 century

American physicians in recent years have recorded several dozen cases of scurvy.

Фото: Depositphotos

This disease is caused by a lack of vitamin C in the body and manifests itself in problems with hair and teeth, writes “New time"with reference to Science Alert magazine.

We used to think of scurvy, as a historical illness. In the era of the Great Geographical Discoveries, long voyages with limited feeding habits led to the fact that hundreds of sailors were subject to destructive symptoms. But scurvy does not disappear from the face of the planet. In fact, she returned even to where no one expected to meet her.

In particular, Sonny Lopez, a resident of Springfield in Massachusetts, recently went to the doctor with complaints of bleeding gums and decaying teeth. He was also bothered by hair loss and a constant feeling of fatigue. The man was diagnosed with scurvy, and this was not the first such case in Springfield.

“We made our first diagnosis of this kind about five or six years ago. The situation with that patient was quite dramatic, he had mental health problems, this man agreed to eat only bread and cheese. Between that case and today, we have made 20-30 diagnoses of scurvy,” said physician Eric Churchill from a clinic in Springfield, Massachusetts.

Churchill and his team are currently working on a research project for the study of scurvy in the urban environment.

“Many people who have difficulty getting food tend to purchase high-fat, high-calorie foods. If you're on a tight food budget, you choose foods that will fill you up more than fruits and vegetables,” Churchill explains.

American doctors emphasize that getting enough vitamins in food is not just eating enough. In fact, many of the scurvy patients Eric Churchill worked with were overweight or even obese.

Moreover, the United States is not the only rich country where scurvy has reared its head. Back in 2016, a report from Australia indicated a similar shocking incidence of scurvy, this time in a group of patients with diabetes.

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