scurvy

scurvy

a disease caused by a lack of vitamin C, characterized by anaemia, spongy gums, bleeding beneath the skin, and (in infants) malformation of bones and teeth

Collins Discovery Encyclopedia, 1st edition © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

scurvy

[′skər·vē]

(medicine)

An acute or chronic nutritional disorder due to vitamin C deficiency; characterized by weakness, subcutaneous hemorrhages, and alterations of any tissue containing collagen, ground substance, dentine, intercellular cement, or osteoid.

McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific & Technical Terms, 6E, Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.

Scurvy

 

a disease of man caused by a deficiency of vitamin C (ascorbic acid) in the diet. Scurvy frequently occurred in members of expeditions to the North, among sailing crews during long journeys, and in the general population as a result of such social upheavals as war and famine. The connection between the incidence of scurvy and poor diet was theorized long ago. For example, 16th-century Russian land and sea travelers used popular antiscorbutic remedies, for example, eating fresh meat (especially deer meat) and drinking infusions and decoctions made from coniferous needles. Research on vitamins led to the discovery of the cause of the disease—a vitamin-C deficiency that results in very low blood and urine ascorbic-acid levels and in increased permeability of the vascular walls. The main sources of vitamin C are fresh vegetables, greens, and berries and other fruits; the vitamin is destroyed by prolonged storage or cooking. Scurvy usually occurs therefore in spring and early summer.

The early symptoms of scurvy are systemic, mostly nervous, disturbances, including loss of muscle strength, ready fatigability, drowsiness, and vertigo. Later symptoms are cyanosis of the ears, nose, lips, fingers, and nails; swelling and bleeding of the gums; and loosening and loss of teeth. A characteristic sign of scurvy is petechial hemorrhage in the hair follicles, resulting in a rash that is first bright red and then blue-black. The rash occurs mostly on the legs, thighs, and buttocks. Subcutaneous and intramuscular hemorrhages also occur in bruised regions and in places rubbed by clothing. Hemorrhages may also occur in organs and body cavities (usually the pleural). Hypochromic anemia and gastrointestinal disorders (low hydrochloric acid concentration in gastric juice and constipation followed by diarrhea and bloody stools) may also develop. Resistance to colds and other infectious diseases decreases sharply, and wounds and fractures heal slowly.

Treatment consists in the ingestion of 100 mg of ascorbic acid three to five times a day for 15 to 20 days or daily intramuscular or subcutaneous injection of 200–300 mg of ascorbic acid for ten to 15 days. General prophylactic measures include a diet balanced between animal proteins and vitamin C and, in the case of an unbalanced diet, the additional ingestion of 70–100 mg of ascorbic acid daily.

REFERENCES

Efremov, V. V. Avitaminoz i gipovitaminoz C (tsinga). Moscow, 1942.
Vitaminy v pitanii i profilaktika vitaminnoi nedostatochnosti. Moscow, 1969.
Vitaminy. Moscow, 1974.

V. V. EFREMOV

The Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition (1970-1979). © 2010 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.