Scurvy is a disease that likely conjures up images of sickly sailors from hundreds of years ago, but doctors in Canada are being warned to look out for the condition now, as a result of growing food insecurity.
Scurvy results from having a severe deficiency of vitamin C, which can be found in citrus fruits, such as oranges and lemons, and vegetables such as broccoli and spinach. Monday in the Canadian Medical Association Journal details the case study of a 65-year-old woman diagnosed with scurvy at a Toronto hospital last year.
Scurvy results from having a severe deficiency of vitamin C. Natural sources of vitamin C — also known as ascorbic acid — include citrus fruits, such as oranges and lemons, and vegetables such as broccoli and spinach. While there are no clear statistics that show whether the incidence of scurvy is on the rise in Canada, recent research suggests it's a growing problem in the U.S.published in July that examined hospital records of some 19 million children in the U.S. found the incidence of scurvy tripled in a four-year period. The rate went from 8.2 cases per 100,000 children in 2016 to 26.7 cases per 100,000 children in 2020.
HMS Terror, one of the ships in the Franklin expedition, which set out from England in 1845 on an ill-fated search for the Northwest Passage, is pictured here in a painting by William Henry Smyth. Recent excavations of skeletal remains suggest that scurvy was one of the causes of death among the crew.
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