The risk of contracting scorpion (scurvy) did not disappear. True, scurvy is extremely rare in our time. Since the disease has moved into the category of rare pathologies, many of us are interested in why people suffer from scurvy and what is scurvy disease?
What is scurvy. Causes of Scorpion
A person who does not receive ascorbic acid for four weeks will develop severe vitamin deficiency, which will turn into scurvy. The disease flows against the background of a complete absence of vitamin C in the body or with its extreme deficiency (critically low concentrations). The total lack of this substance disrupts the synthesis of a special protein - collagen.
Collagen also depends on how strong the walls of blood vessels are and the connective tissues are elastic. Persistent deficiency of vitamin C leads to negative changes in the structure of cartilage, destruction of the tubular bones, impaired bone marrow function, and atrophy of the bone bed.
Other types of vitamin deficiencies lead to mourn. For example, the disease develops together with rickets, which is accompanied by a lack of vitamins from group B and folic acid. Here are the reasons explaining why people get scurvy.
Symptoms of scurvy
Signs of scurvy begin to appear with a persistent acute shortage of vitamin C, lasting for 1-3 months. A person is tormented by weakness, fatigue, dizziness. He develops irritability, drowsiness, pain in the joints. The calf muscles suffer from pain.
However, these signs do not immediately relate to the specific symptoms of scorpion. They are only the basis to suspect the development of pathology. The diagnosis is claimed if the patient has a history of prolonged malnutrition or starvation, as well as problems with the absorption of nutrients in the intestine (another reason why people suffer from scurvy).
Sick scurvy patients have a peculiar appearance. The surface of their skin is tuberous (the tubercles form hemorrhages in the hair sacs). Skin color is tan. Joint pains force them to a specific gait. People walk, burdened by scurvy, bending their knees.
Scurvy development
Regardless of why people suffer from scurvy, progressive mourning is expressed by characteristic changes in the gum tissue. The particular pallor that has arisen on the mucous membranes is replaced by cyanosis. Interdental papillae undergo changes. The gums are bleeding.
The tissue in the lesion is compacted, acquires maroon shades. It shows signs of internal hemorrhage. Teeth are surrounded by blue-purple spongy formations that form bleeding ridges. A person experiences pain while chewing. Excessive salivation gives him considerable discomfort.
Complicated scurvy
It is difficult for the current scout to accompany a secondary infection, which is expressed by an unpleasant odor in the oral cavity, ulcers, staggering, and tooth loss. The disease is accompanied by extensive hemorrhages that occur in the subcutaneous tissue, conjunctiva, muscle mass, periosteum, in the tissues surrounding the joints. Hematomas form in the area of hemorrhage. They, hardening, cause pain and complicate the movement of a person.
Hemorrhages are found not only in external tissues, but also in internal organs. They are characteristic of pleura, kidneys, lungs, intestines, stomach. Patients suffer from hemoptysis, bloody vomiting and hematuria. Their heart function, secretory and motor functions of the gastrointestinal tract are depressed, anemia appears, and the spleen and liver increase.
Scurvy treatment
When the diagnosis of "scurvy" is made, the conditions of occurrence, complications, treatment of the disease are determined, and they pass to careful patient care. The basis of treatment for scurvy is diet therapy. The diet of the patient is based on food enriched with vitamin C: fresh vegetables, fruits, juices, berries. In advanced conditions, ascorbic acid is injected or drip.
With inflammation in the mouth, its cavity is treated with solutions of potassium permanganate and hydrogen peroxide, vitamin A in oil. With difficult articular mobility, physiotherapeutic procedures are prescribed: mud, massages, hydrotherapy sessions, exercise therapy. If anemia is added to the main causes of the disease in the search for the answer to why people suffer from scurvy, vitamin B 12 is prescribed in combination with iron preparations.
Scurvy Prevention
Why do people no longer have scurvy? It's all about the correct and very simple prevention of the disease. Nutrition - a panacea for scurvy. Particular attention is paid to the quality of nutrition in the winter and spring, when foods lose some of their vitamin C, and their immunity is weakened.
Vegetables, fruits and berries in fresh, canned, dried and frozen form help to avoid scurvy. If insufficient amounts are supplied with ascorbic acid, it is recommended to take complex vitamin preparations containing it.