Lessons from History | 2. Scurvy & Infection

In the 16th century, scurvy was observed to be a dietary problem. This was forgotten and as recently as the 1900s, scurvy was thought to be an infectious disease.

What is Scurvy?

Scurvy is a disease caused by a lack of vitamin C in the diet. Vitamin C is also known as Ascorbic Acid.

Long before vitamin C was isolated (1930s), various individuals noticed that scurvy could be cured.

The concept of contagion, and outbreaks, is older than Robert Koch’s discovery of disease-causing bacteria. The historic significance of …