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Pellagra is a disease caused by a lack of the vitamin niacin (vitamin B 3). [2] Symptoms include inflamed skin , diarrhea , dementia , and sores in the mouth. [ 1 ] Areas of the skin exposed to friction and radiation are typically affected first. [ 1 ]
Deficiency causes pellagra, a reversible nutritional wasting disease characterized by four classic symptoms often referred to as the four Ds: diarrhea, dermatitis, dementia, and death. The dermatitis occurs on areas of skin exposed to sunlight, such as backs of hands and neck.
Pellagra, a similar condition, is also caused by low nicotinamide; this disorder results in dermatitis, diarrhea, and dementia. [citation needed] Hartnup disease is a disorder of amino acid transport in the intestine and kidneys; otherwise, the intestine and kidneys function normally, and the effects of the disease occur mainly in the brain and ...
A disease that was characterized by dermatitis of sunlight-exposed skin was described in Spain in 1735 by Gaspar Casal. He attributed the cause to poor diet. [47] In northern Italy it was named pellagra from the Lombard language (agra = holly-like or serum-like; pell = skin). [48] [49] In time, the disease was more closely linked specifically ...
The Casal collar or Casal necklace is a medical sign in which there is a redness and darkening of the skin around the neck, seen in people with pellagra. [2] It becomes prominent following exposure to sun, and can be itchy with a burning feeling and pain. [1] It can blister and weep, and turn into thick dark skin, with a coppery hue. [1]
In the 1930s, he contributed significantly to finding a cure for pellagra, a nutritional disease that once afflicted millions in the American South. Later, he also made a large contribution to finding cure for tropical sprue. For his efforts in elimination of pellagra, Time Magazine named him as 1938 "Man of the Year" in comprehensive science. [1]
Some physicians at the time believed that the disease arose in consequence of bad genes, airborne germs, or miasma resulting from poor sanitary conditions. [6] Goldberger's theory that pellagra was associated with diet contradicted the most widely accepted medical opinion that pellagra was an infectious disease.
Goldsmith discovered the specific roles of dietary folic acid and vitamin B-12 and determined that niacin deficiency was the cause of pellagra. [ 3 ] Goldsmith was made Chairman of the Department of Nutrition and Dean of the Department of Public Health and Tropical Medicine at Tulane University in 1967.