What is Scurvy and How to Avoid the Disease
Cause of Scurvy
The cause of scurvy is traced back to a chronic deficiency of vitamin C. Unfortunately, our bodies do not make vitamin C, nor does the body store it in large quantities. A prolonged lack of nutrition, primarily from fruits and vegetables, causes our bodies to begin to break down. Vitamin C is essential for boosting our immune system, promoting bone, joint, muscle and tissue health along with regulating our cardiovascular system. Scurvy used to be common among sailors who would go months on end without eating healthy foods while out at sea. The poor were also particularly susceptible to developing scurvy due to a lack of access to healthy foods as well.
Early Symptoms
Symptoms generally represent common ailments that are not always immediately linked to a vitamin C deficiency. These include fatigue, irritability, feeling a bit “off”, a loss of appetite, joint or muscle pain, diarrhea, nausea and even bleeding from hair follicles. It’s important to know that you don’t need to have all of these symptoms in order to be impacted by vitamin C deficiency, and their onset may occur slowly over the course of months or even years.
Later Symptoms
Gums will begin to swell, discolor and start to bleed easily. Teeth may become loose, discolored and rotten before falling out. Hair can become dry, curl up and break off near the skin. Skin may become dry, scaly and turn a brown color. Bleeding inside the skin due to the deterioration of the tissue can cause easy and noticeable bruising. Wounds may be difficult to heal and old scars can reopen and start to bleed. Severe muscle and joint pain as well as the swelling of joints as blood pools into crevices is also common in more advanced stages of the disease.
Scurvy can also lead to bone decay as well as stunting bone growth. It can impact the cardiovascular system, hardening arteries, destroying capillaries and elevating blood pressure while reducing the strength of the heart muscle. Anemia can also develop. The swelling of the extremities due to water building up in tissues and congestive heart failure can also occur. Severe forms of the disease can lead to mental impairment and death from cardiac arrest.
Treatment
Treatment depends on the severity of the disease and the extent of secondary complications that have developed. The first course of action is to replenish the body with vitamin C. This can include taking supplements, improving diet and also IV infusion. This alone can produce remarkable improvements. However, people who have advanced stages of the disease may need more specific and supportive care. Only a doctor will be able to determine an appropriate treatment plan after testing is completed to gauge the extent of the problem.
The good news is that this disease is almost entirely avoidable. However, it doesn’t take a lot to starve the body of vitamin C and initiate the slow onset of symptoms. Make sure that you consume appropriate amounts of vitamin C, especially if you drink alcohol or smoke, eat fruits and vegetables every day and ensure that you stock up on supplements in your bug out bag, survival kit or stockpile.
This is one disease that you don’t want to contend with when the SHTF and medical options may be limited or unavailable altogether.
