Description:

Lack of ascorbic acid leads to suppression of collagen synthesis and the synthesis of defective collagen among other metabolic derangements. Weakening of vascular walls results in signs and symptoms mimicking other diseases such as bleeding diatheses and deep vein thrombosis. Scurvy is rarely encountered in Western countries where there is a broad community understanding of the importance of nutritional requirements and where foods containing ascorbic acid are readily available. As a result of these factors early diagnosis may be hampered where it is not considered in the differential diagnosis, and consequently, prolonged suffering of the patient. Scurvy is easily treated with high doses of oral ascorbic acid, although recurrences may occur. Education of health care providers in recognizing the signs and symptoms of scurvy therefore cannot be over emphasized, particularly in societies in which nutritional deficiencies are considered uncommon. Scurvy is still seen sporadically in the developed world. At a time when subclinical vitamin C deficiency in the general population is being recognized increasingly, the need for clinicians to be aware of this disease remains. We present the case of a 9-year-old boy admitted to hospital with musculoskeletal pain, weakness and changes in the skin and gums. After extensive investigation, he was found to have vitamin C deficiency resulting from a restricted eating pattern. Musculoskeletal complaints are a common mode of presentation of scurvy in children. Failure to appreciate this fact and the risk factors for poor vitaminC intake in the paediatric age group can result in unnecessary and invasive investigations for apparent ‘multisystem’ disease. The type and distribution of abnormalities in the skeleton of a child 2 years of age indicates that the child likely suffered from scurvy at the time of death. The burial is from the archaeological site of Zidine, Macvanska Mestrovic, Serbia dated to the Medieval Period. Abnormal porosity and reactive woven bone formation are present affecting both the axial and appendicular skeleton. This case of scurvy is important because archaeological evidence of scurvy in this geographical location and at this time period is unknown.

It is also important because the relative completeness of the skeleton and the widespread evidence of skeletal abnormalities provide additional insight regarding the skeletal manifestations of scurvy in young children prior to the Dutch maritime expansion of the 17th and 18th centuries; scurvy was known in the Low Countries as an endemic disease. From the end of the 16th century the disease started to draw much more attention due to increasing long sea journeys of sailors. Already in the Dutch medical literature of the 16th century, a strong relation was expressed between the prolonged taking of foodstuffs of poor quality and the risk of contracting scurvy. Although from that time, many Dutch physicians recommended oranges, scurvy grass and brook-lime, it took 200 years before inadequate therapy on the fleet was replaced by systematic prevention. Why did the old time effective recommendations for the therapy of scurvy stay inadequate for mariners? To understand, maritime and medical history were unfolded and evaluated with respect to palaeopathological findings reported for 39 cases of active scurvy and one case of healed scurvy. The palaeopathology of scurvy in adults and still growing youngsters was investigated from the remains of 50 Dutch whalers who had been buried during the 17th and 18th centuries on an island of the Spitsbergen Archipelago.

With Regards

 Bfarioh
Journal Coordinator
Global Journal of Research and Review