INTRODUCTION:-
What is a scurvy disease? Scurvy is a health disorder caused by a vitamin C deficiency in the body. This vitamin is essential for maintaining healthy skin, gums, and overall health. A lack of vitamin C can cause weakness, swollen or bleeding gums, and poor wound healing.
It is critical to understand this disease because it is entirely avoidable with a good diet. Historically, sailors and explorers frequently contracted scurvy due to a shortage of fresh fruits and vegetables. Even today, persons with poor nutrition may be at danger. Learning about scurvy teaches us the value of eating vitamin-rich foods to be healthy.
What Is a Scurvy Disease?
Scurvy is a disease caused by a lack of vitamin C in the body over an extended period of time. Vitamin C is an essential component that strengthens our skin, blood vessels, and immune system. Without it, the body cannot repair correctly, and numerous health issues might arise.
How Scurvy Affects The Body
People with scurvy may feel weak, weary, and irritated. Their gums can swell, bleed readily, and their teeth may loosen. Wounds take longer to heal, and the skin may develop bruises or little red areas. In severe circumstances, scurvy can cause joint discomfort, anemia (few red blood cells), and deadly infections.
The good news is that scurvy is easily prevented and treated by eating vitamin C-rich foods like oranges, lemons, strawberries, and green vegetables.
The good news is that scurvy is easily prevented and treated by eating vitamin C-rich foods like oranges, lemons, strawberries, and green vegetables.
What Are The Causes Of Scurvy?
Scurvy occurs when the body does not receive enough vitamin C. This vitamin is essential for maintaining healthy gums, skin, and overall health.
Causes Of Scurvy:-
Lack Of Vitamin C:- The main culprit is not eating enough vitamin C-rich foods such as oranges, lemons, and green vegetables.
Risk Factors:-
1. Poor Diet:- People who do not consume fresh fruits and vegetables on a regular basis are at risk.
2. Malnutrition:- Poverty, bad eating habits, and famine all contribute to a lack of adequate nutrition.
3. Medical Conditions:- Some disorders make it difficult for the body to absorb vitamin C, resulting in insufficiency.
Symptoms Of The Scurvy:-
Scurvy occurs when the body does not receive enough vitamin C. It contains early warning signals and can progress to more serious symptoms if not handled.
Early Scurvy Symptoms:-
1. Weakness:- Weak muscles might make it more difficult to perform regular tasks.
2. Feeling Tired (Fatigue) :- You can feel exhausted and weak.
3. Irritability:- You get irritated in very short things.
Advanced Symptoms Of Scurvy:-
1. Gum Disease:- Here your gums may become swell, bleed and become very painful. Sometimes also you cannot able to chew the foods properly. In this symptoms, your teeth can also loose its strength.
As a result, you cannot able to chew the hard food items.
2. Skin Problems:- Here in this case, your skin becomes dry and rough. You may also get the small rashes on your skin. This symptoms can also cause the slow healing of the wounds. Your wound takes a little more time then others to heal.
3. Joint Pain:- Here in this case, you cannot able to move easily from one place to another. I mean, you feel difficulty in moving from one place to another. And this happens due to the pain and swelling in the joints like in knees.
4. Anemia:- It is a condition where your body doesn't have enough healthy red blood cells. Actually, the role of red blood cells (RBC) in the body is to carry the oxygen and carbon-dioxide from one place to another. And due to lack of RBC, your body and inner organs cannot able to get enough oxygen and carbon-dioxide. As a result, you have to face through some problems like pale-skin and tiredness.
How is Scurvy Diagnosed?
Actually, Scurvy can be easily diagnosed by checking the Vitamin C levels in the body. Scurvy happened due to the lack of Vitamin C in the body.
In Medical, doctors can easily diagnose this disease by checking your Vitamin C levels in the body.
And they ask you , Do you have any symptoms?
And then if you have symptoms like tiredness, bleeding-gums, any skin-problems, joint-pain. Then they easily came to know that you are affected with scurvy.
And then after depending upon you Vitamin C levels and symptoms they give you the medicines and
some extra guidance to cure scurvy.
And this scurvy disease can also be diagnosed in the laboratory in the same way, by checking your Vitamin C levels in the body. In laboratory, a simple blood test is done to check Vitamin C Levels in your body.
How Scurvy Can Be Treated And Prevented?
The only way to treat scurvy is to get enough Vitamin C. You can get Vitamin C by eating fruits like oranges, lemons, strawberries etc. Basically, you have to eat the fruits that have the maximum amount of Vitamin C. I have also mentioned these fruits names in the starting of this article. You can again read them. And you can also take the green vegetables as much as possible. Green vegetables like tomatoes, bell-papers, spinach etc. These vegetables are very much rich in Vitamin C.
You can also take the Vitamin C supplements, that are available in the market. But, be sure to check their brands before buying them. Vitamin C supplements include the Vitamin C tablets and drops.
Some type of drops are also available in the market that can give your body requirement Vitamin C.
Historical Significance Of Scurvy:-
Actually, Scurvy was a common disease for the sailors and explorers in the ancient times. This is because, they have to spent many months at sea without fresh fruits and vegetables.
In the ancient times, many sailors and explorers also died in this disease. Because, at that time there was no solution and medicines available to cure scurvy. And also no one knows the actual reason of this disease. Only sailors have the symptoms like bleeding gums, joint-pain and the other scurvy symptoms.
But, later in 1700s' a British doctor named James Lind, discovered the actual reason of this disease. He found that eating citrus fruits like lemons and oranges can cure scurvy. And these citrus fruits contains the huge amount of Vitamin C.
And from this he came to know that, Lack of Vitamin C in the body can cause the Scurvy.
For more information, you can also watch the following video.
Conclusions:-
In conclusion, the only thing scurvy is a disease which is caused due to the lack of Vitamin C in the body. The symptoms of the scurvy disease are bleeding-gums, joint-pain, pale-skin etc. All these symptoms are mentioned above. And the only way to cure and prevent scurvy is to take maximum amount of Vitamin C into the body. Which is possible by eating fruits like oranges, lemons and fresh green vegetables including tomatoes etc. All the other Vegetables are mentioned above.
One can also get the enough Vitamin C by supplements including tablets and drops. But, be sure to check the brand of the supplement before buying them.
If you have any doubts, then you can comment me.
Stay healthy and fit.