The GP may refer you to a specialist for treatment, support or advice. This depends on what's causing your scurvy. The best sources of vitamin C are fruit and vegetables. The best way to get enough vitamins and minerals is to eat a healthy, balanced diet.
It's important to speak to a GP or midwife before taking any supplements or making changes to your diet during pregnancy. Page last reviewed: 23 November Next review due: 23 November Scurvy happens when there is a lack of vitamin C, or ascorbic acid. The deficiency leads to symptoms of weakness, anemia, gum disease , and skin problems. This is because vitamin C is needed for making collagen , an important component in connective tissues.
Connective tissues are essential for structure and support in the body, including the structure of blood vessels. A lack of vitamin C will also affect the immune system, absorption of iron, metabolism of cholesterol and other functions.
It is also needed for synthesizing dopamine, norepinephrine, epinephrine, and carnitine, needed for energy production. Symptoms of vitamin C deficiency can start to appear after 8 to 12 weeks. Early signs include a loss of appetite, weight loss, fatigue , irritability, and lethargy. Within 1 to 3 months , there may be signs of:. In time, the person will show signs of generalized edema, severe jaundice , destruction of red blood cells, known as hemolysis, sudden and spontaneous bleeding, neuropathy , fever , and convulsions.
It can be fatal. Infants with scurvy will become anxious and irritable. They may experience pain that causes them to assume a frog-leg posture for comfort. There may also be subperiosteal hemorrhage, a type of bleeding that occurs at the ends of the long bones. Animal studies have shown that vitamin C deficiency in a woman during pregnancy can lead to problems with fetal brain development.
Humans cannot synthesize vitamin C. It needs to come from external sources, especially fruits and vegetables, or fortified foods. The recommended dosage is:. Within 24 hours, patients can expect to see an improvement in fatigue, lethargy, pain, anorexia, and confusion. Bruising, bleeding, and weakness start to resolve within 1 to 2 weeks. After 3 months, a complete recovery is possible. This is especially true for those who live for long periods in institutions such as hospitals, and rely on in-house food for their nutrient requirements.
Hospitals also often use the cook-to-chill food service system, and vitamin C is lost from food during chilled storage after cooking. Further, patients may dislike hospital food or feel too unwell to eat enough.
Scurvy can be prevented by consuming enough vitamin C, either in the diet or as a vitamin supplement. Citrus fruits such as oranges and lemons, as well as kiwi fruit, strawberries, guava, papaya and blackcurrants, are excellent sources. Vegetables high in vitamin C include capsicum, broccoli, potatoes, cabbage, tomatoes, and spinach. Overcooking vegetables is likely to destroy vitamin C content. This is due partly to a reaction with oxygen that renders the vitamin inactive, and partly to leaching of the vitamin into the water used for cooking.
Losses during cooking can be reduced by at least half if vegetables are only one-quarter covered by water, rather than being completely immersed. Use of the vegetable cooking water in soups and gravies would also substantially increase the amount of vitamin C you get. Substantial losses of vitamin C also occur during reheating of chilled food. However, the losses are dependent on the time taken to reheat, as well as the portion size of the foods.
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