5 ms·

The Age of Scurvy (2017)

33 points by dsr12 6y ago

thorwasdfasdf 6y ago
it's so ironic that people would have fallen prey to a disease that is so easily mitigated. Vitamin-C is one of the most abundant vitamins out there. Lemons and oranges get all the credit for vitamin C but actually, there's countless examples of plant based foods that have Vitamin-C: just check the vitamin C radio box: https://kale.world/c https://kale.world/c Here's a short list: red/green peppers spinach watercress pok choi kale brussel sprouts chard cabbage peas Just about any leafy green vegetable. Heck, they could have ate the weeds growing in someone's garden: Purslane, fireweed, oxalys, and they would've had more than enough vitamin C. i think it's the nature of being out at sea only eating processed reserves that made them so vulnerable to the disease.
- cafard 6y ago
  Early French settlers in Canada suffered badly until the locals taught them to boil arborvitae needs, I believe.
  - noughtme 6y ago
    Cypress leaves, for anyone wondering.
  - visiblink 6y ago
    An unbelievable act of humanity, especially since it appears to have been undertaken by a man the French abducted the year before.
- m463 6y ago
  > it's so ironic that people would have fallen prey to a disease that is so easily mitigated. I wonder what diseases we have that are easily counteracted... if we only knew the secret. we've learned about asbestos and cigarettes, but I'll bet there are a bunch of direct cancer causing things that are still unknown. Even early covid-19 awareness seemed to be about ventilators and hand-sanitizer. Now its more masks and vitamin D.
  - Dirlewanger 6y ago
    I'm very curious to see what side-effects (if any) vaping causes. Gotta wait a couple decades first though. I imagine there has to be some long-term study going on now for it.
    - JoeAltmaier 6y ago
      https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/wellness-and-prevention/5-truths-you-need-to-know-about-vaping https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/wellness-and-preventi...
      - Dirlewanger 6y ago
        Yeah, those all make sense. I guess I was thinking we'd probably need to wait a couple decades to see if e.g. emphysema also comes from vaping. I also think that article is unfairly demonizing nicotine. In safe doses, it alone is not bad for you. In many ways it's like coffee; gives you a mild buzz. I'm actually surprised we don't have coffee infused with nicotine yet.
  - inglor_cz 6y ago
    For example, the current idea that diabetes 2nd type together with a bunch of other metabolic diseases may be counteracted by intermittent fasting.
- yetihehe 6y ago
  > Heck, they could have ate the weeds growing in someone's garden It's hard to do when you are several hundred miles from nearest garden and all you have is some dry biscuits. And this is after several months without a freezer, so all your vegetables with vit c are already consumed or decayed. People on land had access to vegetables and didn't suffer from scurvy that much.
- lordnacho 6y ago
  > it's so ironic that people would have fallen prey to a disease that is so easily mitigated. Actually the root cause was not discovered easily due to a number of confounders. In fact it was discovered, then forgotten due to confounders, then eventually "properly" discovered again. I can't remember the source, but I read somewhere that certain types of plants don't have the necessary vitamin C to protect you, so when ships were loaded with the wrong plant, people thought it must not be that. They spent their time looking at other potential causes before someone narrowed it down.
  - visiblink 6y ago
    That really is the worst thing: that they discovered the cure and then lost it.
wombatmobile 6y ago
I read a terrific book about this called Scurvy by Stephen R Bown. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/193845.Scurvy https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/193845.Scurvy But if you’ve read TFA you mightn’t have enough time left to read the book because it’s nearly as long. ;-) Difficult problem, scurvy, because of the large time between cause and effect. And the cause isn’t even an element - it is a lack. Difficult!
softwaredoug 6y ago
I would recommend reading a good book on Magellan's journey around the world. It's pretty terrifying how people would go on such a trip given not just Scurvy but just about every other danger you could imagine... https://www.amazon.com/Over-Edge-World-Terrifying-Circumnavigation/dp/006093638X https://www.amazon.com/Over-Edge-World-Terrifying-Circumnavi...
minkeymaniac 6y ago
A good book is also the Terror by Dan Simmons, goes into more than scurvy..... https://www.amazon.com/Terror-Dan-Simmons/dp/0316486094 https://www.amazon.com/Terror-Dan-Simmons/dp/0316486094 Just finished it yesterday.. recommended!!
HALtheWise 6y ago
https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/24149/how-scurvy-was-cured-then-cure-was-lost https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/24149/how-scurvy-was-cur... has a fascinating description of the history of humanity's understanding of scurvy.

33 points by dsr12 6y ago

it's so ironic that people would have fallen prey to a disease that is so easily mitigated. Vitamin-C is one of the most abundant vitamins out there. Lemons and oranges get all the credit for vitamin C but actually, there's countless examples of plant based foods that have Vitamin-C: just check the vitamin C radio box: https://kale.world/c https://kale.world/c Here's a short list: red/green peppers spinach watercress pok choi kale brussel sprouts chard cabbage peas Just about any leafy green vegetable. Heck, they could have ate the weeds growing in someone's garden: Purslane, fireweed, oxalys, and they would've had more than enough vitamin C. i think it's the nature of being out at sea only eating processed reserves that made them so vulnerable to the disease.

cafard 6y ago
Early French settlers in Canada suffered badly until the locals taught them to boil arborvitae needs, I believe.
- noughtme 6y ago
  Cypress leaves, for anyone wondering.
- visiblink 6y ago
  An unbelievable act of humanity, especially since it appears to have been undertaken by a man the French abducted the year before.
m463 6y ago
> it's so ironic that people would have fallen prey to a disease that is so easily mitigated. I wonder what diseases we have that are easily counteracted... if we only knew the secret. we've learned about asbestos and cigarettes, but I'll bet there are a bunch of direct cancer causing things that are still unknown. Even early covid-19 awareness seemed to be about ventilators and hand-sanitizer. Now its more masks and vitamin D.
- Dirlewanger 6y ago
  I'm very curious to see what side-effects (if any) vaping causes. Gotta wait a couple decades first though. I imagine there has to be some long-term study going on now for it.
  - JoeAltmaier 6y ago
    https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/wellness-and-prevention/5-truths-you-need-to-know-about-vaping https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/wellness-and-preventi...
    - Dirlewanger 6y ago
      Yeah, those all make sense. I guess I was thinking we'd probably need to wait a couple decades to see if e.g. emphysema also comes from vaping. I also think that article is unfairly demonizing nicotine. In safe doses, it alone is not bad for you. In many ways it's like coffee; gives you a mild buzz. I'm actually surprised we don't have coffee infused with nicotine yet.
- inglor_cz 6y ago
  For example, the current idea that diabetes 2nd type together with a bunch of other metabolic diseases may be counteracted by intermittent fasting.
yetihehe 6y ago
> Heck, they could have ate the weeds growing in someone's garden It's hard to do when you are several hundred miles from nearest garden and all you have is some dry biscuits. And this is after several months without a freezer, so all your vegetables with vit c are already consumed or decayed. People on land had access to vegetables and didn't suffer from scurvy that much.
lordnacho 6y ago
> it's so ironic that people would have fallen prey to a disease that is so easily mitigated. Actually the root cause was not discovered easily due to a number of confounders. In fact it was discovered, then forgotten due to confounders, then eventually "properly" discovered again. I can't remember the source, but I read somewhere that certain types of plants don't have the necessary vitamin C to protect you, so when ships were loaded with the wrong plant, people thought it must not be that. They spent their time looking at other potential causes before someone narrowed it down.
- visiblink 6y ago
  That really is the worst thing: that they discovered the cure and then lost it.

wombatmobile 6y ago

I read a terrific book about this called Scurvy by Stephen R Bown. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/193845.Scurvy https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/193845.Scurvy But if you’ve read TFA you mightn’t have enough time left to read the book because it’s nearly as long. ;-) Difficult problem, scurvy, because of the large time between cause and effect. And the cause isn’t even an element - it is a lack. Difficult!

softwaredoug 6y ago

I would recommend reading a good book on Magellan's journey around the world. It's pretty terrifying how people would go on such a trip given not just Scurvy but just about every other danger you could imagine... https://www.amazon.com/Over-Edge-World-Terrifying-Circumnavigation/dp/006093638X https://www.amazon.com/Over-Edge-World-Terrifying-Circumnavi...

minkeymaniac 6y ago

A good book is also the Terror by Dan Simmons, goes into more than scurvy..... https://www.amazon.com/Terror-Dan-Simmons/dp/0316486094 https://www.amazon.com/Terror-Dan-Simmons/dp/0316486094 Just finished it yesterday.. recommended!!

HALtheWise 6y ago

https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/24149/how-scurvy-was-cured-then-cure-was-lost https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/24149/how-scurvy-was-cur... has a fascinating description of the history of humanity's understanding of scurvy.