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Article: IT TOOK THE SCURVY POLITICIANS CENTURIES RODENTS SYNTHESIZE VITAMIN C - ASCORBIC ACID; HUMANS MUST GET IT FROM FRESH FRUITS, VEGETABLES.(Brief Article)
- Article from:
- BIOWORLD Today
- Article date:
- May 2, 2002
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2002 A Thomson Healthcare Company. 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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Q: When and where did the world's first controlled clinical trial take place?
A: In 1754 - 248 years ago - aboard a British man-of-war, HMS Salisbury.
Naval surgeon James Lind (1716-1794), who designed and conducted the study, selected 12 seamen suffering from scurvy and divided them into six two-man cohorts. They swallowed daily either cider; oil of vitriol; vinegar; sea-water; a mixture of garlic, radish, Peru balsam and myrrh; or oranges and lemons. The pair on citrus fruit were fit for duty in six days, and assigned to nurse the other 10, who remained very sick.
It took the British Admiralty another 41 years before it decreed ...