Scurvy was a disease that afflicted seamen who were at sea for extended periods of time causing them to suffer from diseased gums, skin conditions resulting in infections, teeth falling out & even triggering depression. It has been a problem affecting seamen in particular & was recorded as early as around 500 B.C. There were numerous ideas about what caused it & how to treat it throughout the centuries. But it wasn’t until 1932 that the ultimate cause of scurvy was known for sure – a lack of vitamin C.
The tragedy is that a Scottish surgeon in the British Royal Navy, James Lind first proved it could be treated with citrus fruit in experiments he described in his 1753 book, A Treatise of the Scurvy, though his advice was not implemented by the Royal Navy for several decades.
For decades sailors the world over continued to suffer & die of a disease of which the cure was simple – citrus fruit or vitamin C. They had the remedy but it just wasn’t applied!