“A major hospital in western Sydney recently reported a number of diabetes patients were suffering from scurvy”.
“Some people are more at risk of scurvy than others. Those at high risk are usually elderly people who may have difficulty chewing vitamin C-rich foods, and those with a diet devoid of fresh fruits and vegetables due to low incomes, ignorance or excessively restrictive diets, for example as a result of allergies.”
> There was another incident, I can’t remember precisely who, but it involved one of the first ship visits to the Barents Sea. The ship was badly affected by scurvy when the scientist on board discovered on an island they were visiting a plant that had ascorbic acid. He returned to the ship extremely excited. The crew refused to eat it, complaining of its taste and saying that the scientist was trying to poison them. He finally convinced the captain to eat it, but not the crew. A lot of sailors died of scurvy on that voyage, but not the scientist or captain.
Not in the Barents Sea. Possibly north of the Bering Strait.
“The Royal Society has been honouring scientific curiosity. Captain James Cook, … winners of the Society’s Copley Medal for
outstanding achievements in research. … Captain Cook received his medal for the methods he used to protect his crew from scurvy.”
“Cook is best remembered as a sci
entist and navigator. Less well
known is that Cook was commended
by the Royal Society for his work on
improving the health of seamen.
Had it not been for Cook’s aware
ness of the benefits of health main
tenance and disease prevention, we
might all be speaking French instead
of English. La Perouse ran a close
second in the race to claim our
shores.
When Cook provisioned the En-
deavour in 1768 there was generally
little understanding of the import
ance of nutrition.
In the 18th century the diet of the
men at sea left a lot to be desired.
According to Admiralty Regulations
of the time, each man was allowed
lib of biscuits and a gallon of beer
every day. Beef or pork was available
four days a week, and oatmeal and
cheese on the remaining three.
Some of these provisions were far
from appetising. Banks wrote in his
journal that thousands of “vermin”
could be shaken out of a single bis-
cuit.
Taste apart, the food on board ship
was unsatisfactory because of the
lack of fresh fruit and vegetables. The
diet was deficient in vitamins, espe-
cially Vitamin C.
Scurvy, the resultant disease, often
caused the death of the majority of
the crew on an extended sea voyage.
Cook was” one who believed that
certain foodstuffs would prevent the
onset of scurvy, or even cure it in the
early stages.
The Endeavour was provided with
several items which were believed to
be effective in this way. These includ
ed malt, sauerkraut, portable soup (a
dehydrated product) and a concen
trate of oranges and lemons.
It is now known, of course, that
aqueous solution of Vitamin C are
relatively unstable and the citrus
juice taken on board when the ship
sailed in 1768 would have been of
little benefit in 1770.
Nevertheless, Cook’s insistence on
obtaining fresh food supplies when
ever possible kept his men fit and
healthy. By the time the Endeavour
reached Batavia (now Indonesia), al-
though there had been signs of scur-
vy, remarkably no-one had died of
the disease.”
“Bligh and his
men had covered 1600km since the
main mutiny on April 28 near the
island of Tofua in Tonga. They had
sore bottoms, cuts that would not
heal and leg cramps. They were
heavily tanned, none had scurvy”.
“But Sturt was unwilling to concede defeat.
In January, 1845, after almost losing all the
bullocks amongst waterless sand ridges, the
party encamped at Depot Glen (50 kilometres
south of Tibooburra). There the entire party
was trapped for six months by drought: the
creek fell steadily, the raucous flights of
cockatoos departed, the provisions were cut,
scurvy broke out. … He finally was
persuaded to eat the shiny red berries
of the ruby salt bush, abundant with
vitamin C”.
“the First Fleet’s scurvy problems in 1788”
“16 Aboriginal infant deaths in Collarenebri since 1957 due to scurvy – cause of death not recognised at the time”.
From 1960. “There were 29 cases of scurvy in N.S.W. last year”.