The history of scurvy and the discovery of Vitamin C
According to vitamin c, Ascorbic Acid, the vitamin c disease has been around since the 13th Century and there is also evidence of its existence in the Old Testament. (J. N. Counsell et. al D. H. Hornig, 1981)
The body requires protein, carbohydrate’s, fats, vitamins, minerals and water. A lack in one of these six key nutrients can have horrific effect on the human body. Particularly vitamin c disease, scurvy has been around since the 13th century. The first earlier English word for the disease was ‘scorby’ (Kenneth J, 2018). There has been evidence of its existence since the 1550 BC onwards, as it was first reported in the Ebers Papyrus, which is an Egyptian medical paper. During this time the medical examiners gave the ill people onions and other vegetables to eat. Which we know today as high sources of vitamin c. (Magiorkinis, Diamantis and Beloukas, 2011). During this time the people began to farm the land for agriculture purposes. As the winter months approached the people began to stored their cereal grains that they harvest that September. However the people have a high amount of food available i.e. cereal grains, which are very low in vitamin c lead to people becoming ill and developing scurvy. A Greek physician, Hippocrates of Kos, ‘the Father of Medicine’ as he was also known as, had a very high interest in medicine and wrote many journals. He wrote about individuals with scurvy, in which he described to “have foetid breath, lax gums, and haemorrhages from the nose” (Allen Mayberry, 2004). At this era in time, the idea of food providing nutrients was unhear of. From 1500 BC and 1800 AD scurvy killed more sailors than all other diseases and disasters combined (Jarchowsky Dolberg, Elis and Lishner, 2010) Almost two million sailors died from scurvy (SCURVY and its prevention and control in major emergencies, 1999). There was no more reports stated of scurvy until the 15th century.
From the 15th to the 18th century there was more evidence wrote down of the “amalati de la boccha” (curse of the mouth), which provides conformation for the numerous deaths at this time. During the 15th century the age of discovery, it was very prominent time of the great sea voyages across the globe. Sailors were becoming more adventurous. It has been noted that scurvy has been connected with stressful conditions over a long periods of time which would have been the cause for sailors living at sea (Kenneth J, 2018). One of the first explorers was Vasco da Gama (1460-1524) a Portuguese nobleman Vasco da Gama sailed from Lisbon in 1497 on a mission to reach India and open a sea route from Europe to the East. Himself and his crew of 170 men sailed to India for over two years, travelled 24, 000 miles but only 54 of his men survived as they all died of scurvy (History, 2009.) As all the men who died of scurvy had rotting teeth, black sore gums, Gama tried to cure his men by rinsing their mouth with urine (Allen Mayberry, 2004). Which proved to be insufficient however, he had the right intension which lead to aid later on discovery’s
The first legitimate evidence of the effect of scurvy was during Ferdinand Magellan voyage around the world in November of 1520AD. Antonio Pigafetta who travelled with Magellan, kept a diary of his travels. He expressed his experience with the devastating side effect of little fresh fruit and vegetables. Based on Pigafetta writings he wrote that the men ate cowhides, sawdust, and rats. This was the first appropriate evidence of the consequence of little fruit and vegetables. As when Magellan and his men arrived in Guam, where fruit and vegetables was in a high volume their symptoms of scurvy disappeared (Leonard J. 2010).
Another early accounts of the disease was noted how it slow, progressed toward death. For example, William Clowes, an English surgeon wrote in 1596 that their gums were rotten even to the very roots of their teeth, and their cheeks hard and swollen, the teeth were loose nearly ready to fall out. Their legs were feeble and so weak, that they were not scarce able to carry their bodies. Moreover they were full of aches and pains, with many blueish and reddish stains or spots, some broad and some small like flea-biting (Allen Mayberry, 2004). This is more significant evident of the outcome with little fruits and vegetables in the diet
It was not till 1753, when an astonishing discover that changed the view of scurvy forever. A Scottish physician, James Lind who was a surgeon on the British Navy. He noticed that when time passed the men started to become ill and develop the symptom of scurvy which was very similar to what had already been written about scurvy previously. While on board of the Salisbury ship, he began to conduct clinical experiments on the men who were ill. On May 20th 1747 he took twelve patients with scurvy, all who which has similar symptoms. Which made the test seem fair in terms of experiments. He gave all six pairs different foods to see if scurvy deceased. For instance, he gave one pair two spoonful’s of vinegar three times a day, two others had each two oranges and one lemon given them every day and two others took twenty- five spoons of elixir vitriol three times a day. He did this every day for six days and on the sixed day he noticed that the men who were given the oranges and lemons stared to become somewhat healthier. His experiment "succeeded" simply because one of the "remedies" contained vitamin C (the anti-scorbutic factor) whereas the other five did not. (Hughes, 1975) In 1754, he published his book ‘A Treatise on Scurvy’, based on what he had learnt on the Salisbury ship. His book was translations into French (1756, 1783), Italian (1766) and German (1775). However as fascinating his discovery was in the age of discovery it was noted that his book was long, difficult and contradictory. That he used what he had learnt to disprove the theories of the causes of scurvy that was already written about. As he wanted to put his idea on scurvy that he believed the disease was due to a faulty digestion and excretion system in the human body. (Milne, 2012)
It was not till 1920s and 1930s when another advancement in scurvy was accomplished. Professor Albert Szent-Györgyi. In 1928 he was aware of the fact that the adrenal cortex was in some respects attached to biological oxidations but this connection was unknown. Szent-Györgyi developed the method to find this connection as he studied juices from vegetables which contained enzyme peroxidase which converts hydrogen peroxide to water to a substrate. He was able to show that there was a reducing factor in the juice and it was the reducing agent for the enzyme. As there substrates would not be oxidized. He went on to discover that the same reducing factor that behaved in a similar way in other vegetables also
He shared what he had learnt with other scientists interested in vitamin c. He shared his work with a carbohydrate chemist. Walter Norman Haworth at the University of Birmingham and in Haworth’s laboratory which aided them to understand the structure. To certify the structure they were able to synthesized vita min c which aided the artificial synthesis of a vitamin. Szent-Györgyi also noted that it was a lactone with the chemical formula C6H8O6 and was named hexuronic acid. Which he renamed “a-scorbic” acid later as it because it inhibited (scurvy). In1937 he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine for his discoveries of vitamin C. Haworth was awarded for his research on the structure of vitamin C
With it been almost 87 years later vitamin c can be still a challenges to many researchers. As they struggle with its instability, as they may be still learning the details of its biochemical functions and its oxidant properties. (Buettner and Schafer, 2006)