# Do people in the developed world suffer from deficiency diseases? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 23, 2012, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-in-the-developed-world-suffer-from-deficiency-diseases/613781 "2012-02-23T23:53:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Blake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@Blake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blake)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2012, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-in-the-developed-world-suffer-from-deficiency-diseases/613781/21 "2012-02-24T06:35:45Z")
> [@Sister\_Vigilante](#): > > What does “no potassium” do to a body over time? [Causes instant death through nerve and muscle failure](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Na%2B/K%2B-ATPase). > [@](#): > > And how am I doing that? Obviously you aren’t. There is presumably something in your physiology that is interfering with the way they test for blood potassium levels. If you literally had no potassium you would be dead instantly. And I mean _instantly_. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2012, 9:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-in-the-developed-world-suffer-from-deficiency-diseases/613781/22 "2012-02-24T09:17:58Z")
> [@Washoe](#): > > That might have been me. I remember reading that in my lower division nutrition text. The guy lived off of nothing but hamburgers, steak, and martinis. Went from doctor to doctor until one of them finally figured out that the poor bastard had scurvy. I’ll say this. I was living alone at the time (and did so for a while after that) and when I read that, I went and purchased several bottles of orange juice (and started eating fruits as well). ---
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2012, 9:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-in-the-developed-world-suffer-from-deficiency-diseases/613781/23 "2012-02-24T09:28:48Z")
My niece’s young toddler son was living with his young father and the father’s girlfriend for many months, until they unceremoniously dumped him on his grandmother’s door and simply said they could no longer care for him. He was skinny and had sores on his skin and mouth ulcers, apparently they could not afford formula so fed him mostly cow’s milk(he should have been weaned mostly by that point) or were just neglecting him who knows. A doctor pronounced him to be vitamin deficient. I assume there are many similar cases due to neglect or poverty. This was in the USA. ---
**Author:** ![dzero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5f9b8f/32.png) [@dzero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dzero)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2012, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-in-the-developed-world-suffer-from-deficiency-diseases/613781/24 "2012-02-25T04:35:02Z")
> [@Blake](#): > > The thing is that nutrient deficiency can be chronic, and it can be acute. \ Thank you. +1. Western medicine (not to sound like a new ager) has been far too slow in recognizing the importance of subclinical deficiencies. Even the claim that a balanced diet is sufficient arrogantly presumes that we understand all of the biochemistry involved in normal, healthy metabolism when clearly we do not. As an example, allow me to add magnesium to the list - [with the following quote from the National Institutes of Health](http://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/magnesium/). > [@](#): > > Even though dietary surveys suggest that many Americans do not get recommended amounts of magnesium, symptoms of magnesium deficiency are rarely seen in the US. However, there is concern that many people may not have enough body stores of magnesium because dietary intake may not be high enough. Having enough body stores of magnesium may be protective against disorders such as cardiovascular disease and immune dysfunction [[7-8](http://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/magnesium/#en7)]. Take a look at the list of foods high in magnesium and ask yourself how much you likely consume on any given day. ---
**Author:** ![Blake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@Blake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blake)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2012, 9:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-in-the-developed-world-suffer-from-deficiency-diseases/613781/25 "2012-02-25T09:37:49Z")
> [@dzero](#): > > Even the claim that a balanced diet is sufficient arrogantly presumes that we understand all of the biochemistry involved in normal, healthy metabolism when clearly we do not. My claim doesn’t make that assumption, because to me a balanced diet is \*defined \*as one that provides everything necessary without an excess of anything. We certainly are a long way form knowing what a balanced diet actually _is_, though we have some very good ideas about what it isn’t. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-in-the-developed-world-suffer-from-deficiency-diseases/613781.md?page=1)