Evening star., 1937-12-16
STARS, MEN AND ATOMS
Notebook of Science Progress in Field,
Laboratory and Study.
BY THOMAS R. HENRY,

A low-grade scurvy. whose symptoms
are spongy and bleeding gums, may be
quite common in the United States.
Evidence for this is presented in a
report to the Public Health Service by
DR.. F. c. Cady, staff dental surgeon.
The condition, he stresses, seldom
actually is diagnosed as scurvy by the
dentists who come in contact with It..
But it is most frequent in malnourished
communities and often is improved nota-
bly, by Improvement in diet
Scurvy is due to one cause.-The lack
OF vitamin in the food. This vitamin,
now identified as cervitamic acid, is con-
tanned in fresh fruits and vegetables.
The ordinary well-balanced diet contains
enough OF it. at least, to prevent clinical
symptoms of the disease.
But, DR.. Cady stresses, thousands do
not get fresh fruits and vegetables Com
pared to the stock diets in some parts of
the country they are expensive. Espe-
ciaily in winter they may drop out alto
gether. Moreover, vitamin c is the most
elusive and unstable of all the vitamins.
1t is profoundly affected by heat. cook
Ing and other processes. It Is destroyed
by aging, particularly in an alkaline
medium. Its presence in any particular
preserved food can usually be determined
only by actual analysis.
The paucity of the vitamin in ordi-
nary low-priced foodstuffs," DR.. Cady
says, and its sensitivity to heating, dry
ing and aging explain the high incidence
OF scurvy in armies. on ships at sea and
in institutions which are required to use
prepared foods, since fresh fruits and
vegetables are expensive and perish
able Although modern distribution and
preservation Of fresh foods have greatly
reduced the incidence of severe cases Of
scurvy In large part of the modern
world, there Is increasing evidence to
support the conviction that there con-
tinues to exist q high rate of subclin-
lcal scurvy, most evident among the low
income groups"
he cites one experiment with 200 chill
dren. extending over two years, In which
diet lacking only in vitamin c resulted
IN large incidence Of the gum disease
known as gingivitis. The condition was
almost entirely cleared up by giving the
youngsters orange and lemon juice.
IN 1883 there was widespread cpl
demic OF similar malady in Southwest
ern Colorado. where the high altitude,
short summer and long winter made
fruits and vegetables expensive during q
greater part Of the year. More than
40 per cent Of the people, mostly Mex
lean poems with low incomes, were
afnicted with the disease. The vitamin
deficiency was obvious.
One disease Of this sort, Vincent's
infection, has been ON the increase ever
since the start OF the depression, DR..
Cady says, and probably is due to vitamin
G lack. Much the same sort of LESSONS
can be produced experimentally in mon
keys BY taking this important element
out Of the diet.
Actual clinical scurvy, DR.. Cady points
out, has just about disappeared from the
civilized world. Once It was a major
scourge Of mankind. It hindered Caesars
campaigns In Gaul. The crusaders
suffered from it. At one time It was seri-
ously debated whether Canada could be
successfully settled by the white race
because Of the terrible ravages Of scurvy
among the French pioneers.
It occurred extensively during the Cri-
mean, Ffanco-Prussian and Russo jana
nese Wars. A Civil War report lists
5000 cases, with 3S3 deaths. In the
World War it was an important factor
With the armies In the Near East and u
credited with being decisive In the Brit