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Article: Reflections on vitamin C and hidden scurvy.
- Article from:
- Nutrition Health Review
- Article date:
- March 22, 1992
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1992 Vegetus Publications. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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My own interest in ascorbic acid centered on its role in vegetable respiration and defense mechanisms. I always had the feeling that not enough use was made of it for supporting public health. The reasons were rather complex. The medical profession itself took a wrong view and a narrow one. The reasoning: Lack of ascorbic acid caused scurvy, so if there were no scurvy (apparent), there was no lack of ascorbic acid.
The only trouble with this logic was that scurvy is not a first symptom of lack but a final collapse, a premortal syndrome, and there is very little gap between scurvy and full health. But no one knows what full health is! This could be determined only ...