Tag: Modern scurvy

While most associate scurvy with ancient sailors and explorers, vitamin C deficiency still occurs today, even in developed countries. This nutritional disease can affect modern individuals due to poor dietary habits, restricted diets, and certain medical conditions.

While often considered a historical disease that plagued sailors on long voyages, scurvy is still present in the modern era. Recent research from 2016 to 2020 has shown a troubling tripling of scurvy incidence in pediatric inpatient populations in the US. Yes, people still get scurvy today, with cases linked to restrictive diets, socioeconomic factors, and certain health conditions.

Historically, scurvy killed more sailors in the 18th-century British Royal Navy than wartime enemy action, a devastating reality rooted in nutritional deficiency. Understanding what did scurvy come from is a journey through medical history, revealing how a simple lack of vitamin C led to widespread suffering and death, not just at sea, but also on land.

Despite its historical association with sailors and long sea voyages, scurvy has seen a worrying resurgence in the modern era. While a severe deficiency is rare, studies show that significant vitamin C deficiency affects a notable portion of the population, challenging the assumption that it is a disease of the past.

While severe vitamin C deficiency is rare in developed countries, a recent study noted that the incidence of scurvy in the inpatient pediatric population in the US more than tripled between 2016 and 2020. This surprising trend raises the question: how easy is it to get scurvy in the modern world?

Despite being largely considered a historical disease, recent data reveals that scurvy is re-emerging in unexpected populations within developed nations, showing a significant increase in inpatient pediatric cases from 2016 to 2020. This resurgence highlights the often-hidden reality of severe vitamin C deficiency and answers the question: where do people still get scurvy?.

According to a recent national analysis, the incidence of scurvy in hospitalized pediatric patients in the US more than tripled between 2016 and 2020. Once considered a historical disease confined to long sea voyages, modern research is revealing the surprising answer to the question, 'Who just got scurvy?'.

According to a 2017–2018 NHANES survey, the estimated prevalence of vitamin C deficiency in the U.S. is about 5.9%, though the odds of getting scurvy, the severe clinical disease, remain relatively low in developed nations. Once a devastating ailment among sailors, severe scurvy is now rare, largely confined to specific, at-risk populations with restricted diets or malabsorption issues.