How long has pellagra existed in South Carolina? : a study of local medical history / by J.W. Babcock.

  • James Woods Babcock
Date:
1912
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Licence: In copyright

Credit: How long has pellagra existed in South Carolina? : a study of local medical history / by J.W. Babcock. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    skin diseases, with diseases in general, especially with, chronic intestinal and ner\^oiis diseases, as well as with mental diseases: especially would a disease wdth the very changeable symptoms of pellagra be considered as a manifestation of leprosy and scurvy.” So thorough and competent a student of the literature of pellagra as Sambon has this to say relative to the slowness with which the disease has always been recognized. ” An important reason why pellagra was not described sooner, is that it was confounded with other diseases, such as eczema, leprosy, erysipelas, and scurvy. Pujati, who first established the presence of pellagra in Venetian territory where scurvy was common, named it ” Alpine Scurvy.” Odoardi retains this name because, he says, the two diseases have a common cause, produce like efifects, and are cured by the same remedies. Sartogo (1791) called it “Mountain Scurvy,” and Aldalli (1791) “Scorbutic Paralysis.” Other writers referred to by Sambon have noted the resemblance of and alliance between scurvy and pellagra. It is important to bear this in mind in con- nection with clinical reports and opinions brought out further on in this paper. The variety of names by which pellagra was called in Spain and Italy and France, is paralleled in the New World. For years before its final recognition in our hospital, the colored female attendants used to speak of it among themselves as the “ rough skin ” disease —a repetition of the pdlc agra of the Italian vulgate. Its supposed relationship with scurvy when it was called “ Alpine Scurvy ” around Venice, is duplicated by the recorded opinions of early and recent physicians in our hospital, as I shall show later. At the pellagra clinic held in 1910, a physician much interested in the disease asked me to look up the records of a colored woman whom he had sent to the hospital some years previously, as he was now satisfied she had pellagra. This is what I found: Hospital Case No. 8990. B. B., colored woman. Admitted Aug. 16, 1899. Age 36 years. I^Iarried. Native and resident of Marlboro County. First attack. Duration three weeks before admission. ]\Ienses irregular. Physicians’ certificate: “ Patient has attacks of an hysterical nature and depression over pigmented condition of skin.” Examination on admission: “Of stupid appearance. Pupils normal; tongue clean and dry; straight; speech incoherent; nutrition fair. Heart and lungs normal. Some cough. Temperature 984 degrees F. Pulse 98. Respiration 14. Weight 98 pounds. Sleep disturbed. Skin of hands black and peeling off. Patient
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