# Is Scurvet Still Seen? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 15, 2004, 8:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-scurvet-still-seen/274836 "2004-11-15T08:50:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2004, 8:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-scurvet-still-seen/274836/1 "2004-11-15T08:50:54Z")
Scurvey (Vitamin C deficiency) was a common diseasein the 18th century-sailors on long voyages (who had no fresh vegetables) developed it. Its symptoms are horrible-your teeth fall ot, and eventually you bleed to death. My question: given the poor diet of many people today (fast food, junk food) is scurvey seen today? I can imagine that somebody who lives in french fries and soda would not be getting a lo of vitamin C. ---
**Author:** ![Roches](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bc8723/32.png) [@Roches](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roches)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2004, 9:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-scurvet-still-seen/274836/2 "2004-11-15T09:40:56Z")
Well, I had a friend in college who knew someone who only ate macaroni and cheese (or was it pizza?) for two months (or was it one month, or was it two weeks?), and he got [scurvy](http://www.snopes.com/college/horrors/scurvy.asp) because he didn’t get enough vitamin C. At least, I had a friend in college who knew that urban legend. While the recommended intake of vitamin C is about 60 mg/day, as little as 5-7 mg will prevent scurvy. (from the link above) An average-sized orange contains 70 mg, and a tomato contains 23. (I’ve read that a single orange contains enough vitamin C to cure scurvy.) So it’d be very unlikely that someone would fail to eat even the smallest amount of fruit for long enough to get scurvy. A diet of french fries and soda is actually not quite as scorbutic as you might think. Potatoes are a source of vitamin C, and a super-sized serving of [McDonald’s fries](http://www.mcdonalds.com/app_controller.nutrition.categories.nutrition.index.html/) has 40% of the RDA of vitamin C (certainly enough to prevent scurvy). ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2004, 9:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-scurvet-still-seen/274836/3 "2004-11-15T09:56:37Z")
> [@ralph124c](#): > > I can imagine that somebody who lives in french fries and soda would not be getting a lo of vitamin C. A small portion of [McDonalds Fries](http://www.mcdonalds.com/app_controller.nutrition.categories.nutrition.index.html/) conatains 15% (9mg?) of the RDA of Vitamin C. From [here](http://www.nhmrc.gov.au/publications/diet/n6p2.htm) > [@](#): > > It has been found that intakes of 10 mg ascorbic acid are sufficient to prevent and cure experimental scurvy in human volunteers A diet consisting of nothing but fries and soda would be just fine for preventing scurvy. Is it still seen today? Yes, but it’s rare in the US, but in [Afghanistan](http://www.reliefweb.int/w/rwb.nsf/0/9fc66fe10d8094f185256cae0050b760?OpenDocument) recently > [@](#): > > In early March 2002, whilst establishing a nutrition programme in the area, an ACF field team came across twenty deaths and forty seven suspected of scurvy in four villages. ---
**Author:** ![Excalibre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@Excalibre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Excalibre)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2004, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-scurvet-still-seen/274836/4 "2004-11-15T13:08:22Z")
From the Snopes link: > [@Snopes](#): > > \*n 2003 Reuters reported on an unnamed student who had developed scurvy “even though he was eating plenty of calories and had no deficiencies in most other vitamins and minerals. The student confessed to doctors that he ate no fruit and vegetables, consuming only a few types of foods — namely, cheese, crackers, soda, cookies, chocolate and water.” It goes on to note that it’s not unheard of for the elderly to get scurvy nowadays; I was fairly sure that I’d heard this news story. I suppose this is an example of ostention (when an urban legend comes true after the fact), since I suspect that the story is considerably older than that. ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2004, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-scurvet-still-seen/274836/5 "2004-11-15T13:23:52Z")
For other American cases involving children, the journal Pediatrics has a gruesome article WARNING GRAPHIC MEDICAL PICTURES [http://pediatrics.aappublications](http://pediatrics.aappublications) dot org/cgi/content/full/108/3/e55 (you know what to do with the dot) I’ve been reading elsewhere that it occurs (rarely in all cases) in kids, alcoholics, diabetics and the elderly.