Blackcurrant vitamin c
Scorbutic gums, a symptom of scurvy. The blackcurrant vitamin c-shaped areas between the teeth show redness of the gums. Early symptoms of deficiency include weakness, feeling tired and sore arms and legs.
It takes at least a month of little to no vitamin C in the diet before symptoms occur. Treatment is with vitamin C supplements taken by mouth. Improvement often begins in a few days with complete recovery in a few weeks. Scurvy is rare compared to other nutritional deficiencies.
It occurs more often in the developing world in association with malnutrition. Early symptoms are malaise and lethargy. After one to three months, patients develop shortness of breath and bone pain. Myalgias may occur because of reduced carnitine production. A child presenting a “scorbutic tongue” due to vitamin C deficiency. A child with scurvy in flexion posture. Photo of the chest cage with scorbutic rosaries.
Scurvy, including subclinical scurvy, is caused by a deficiency of dietary vitamin C since humans are unable to metabolically synthesize vitamin C. Western societies, scurvy is rarely present in adults, although infants and elderly people are affected. Vitamins are essential to the production and use of enzymes that are involved in ongoing processes throughout the human body. Collagen is a primary structural protein in the human body, necessary for healthy blood vessels, muscle, skin, bone, cartilage, and other connective tissues. Defective connective tissue leads to fragile capillaries, resulting in abnormal bleeding, bruising, and internal hemorrhaging. Collagen is an important part of bone, so bone formation is also affected.
Teeth loosen, bones break more easily, and once-healed breaks may recur. Diagnosis is typically based on physical signs, X-rays, and improvement after treatment. C, and can even be used to treat scurvy. Scott’s 1902 Antarctic expedition used lightly fried seal meat and liver, whereby complete recovery from incipient scurvy was reported to have taken less than two weeks. Scurvy will improve with doses of vitamin C as low as 10 mg per day though doses of around 100 mg per day are typically recommended. Most people make a full recovery within 2 weeks.