scurvy

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People wearing surgical masks (also called face mask or medical masks or safety masks) walk through the city center of Milan, Italy on Feb. 23, 2020. Coronavirus disease COVID-19 pandemic

How Do Face Masks Control the Spread of Disease?

Scanning electron micrograph showing the spiral-shaped bacteria of the genus Leptospira. These organisms cause leptospirosis.

8 Zoonotic Diseases

Scan of human brain

What Are the Symptoms of a Stroke?

close up of 3d microscopic blue bacteria

What Was Life Like Before We Knew About Germs?

Shot of a woman drinking a glass of water at home. Drink sip hydration

How Much Water Should a Person Drink in a Day?

Discover

Thanksgiving Celebration Traditional Dinner Setting Food Concept

Why Is Thanksgiving in the U.S. Celebrated on a Thursday?

Mayer Amschel Rothschild (1744-1855), founder of the house of Rothschild; lithograph by Friedrich Lieder, c. 1830.

Where Do Anti-Semitic Conspiracy Theories About the Rothschild Family Come From?

Los Angeles Police Department wanted flyer on Elizabeth Short, aka the "Black Dahlia," who was brutally murdered in January 1947. The FBI supported the Los Angeles Police Department in the case, including by identifying Short through her fingerprints that

America’s 5 Most Notorious Cold Cases (Including One You May Have Thought Was Already Solved)

Woman tied to a ducking stool, a method of punishment by means of humiliation, beating, or death. (cucking stool)

8 Unusual Punishments Inflicted on Women Throughout History

Iraqi Army Soldiers from the 9th Mechanized Division learning to operate and maintain M1A1 Abrams Main Battle Tanks at Besmaya Combat Training Center, Baghdad, Iraq, 2011. Military training. Iraq war. U.S. Army

8 Deadliest Wars of the 21st Century

Santa Claus flying in his sleigh, christmas, reindeer

Was Santa Claus a Real Person?

Super Typhoon Noru over the western tropical Pacific Ocean as observed by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA Aqua satellite July 31 2017

What Is the Difference Between a Typhoon and a Super Typhoon?

scurvy: Facts & Related Content

Written and fact-checked by The Information Architects of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Facts

Also Known As	vitamin C deficiency

Topics

vitamin C vitamin deficiency disease rickets beriberi pellagra vitamin A deficiency folic acid deficiency anemia

Key People

James Lind, engraving by I. Wright after a portrait by Sir George Chalmers, 1783

James Lind

British physician

Sir Gilbert Blane, 1st Baronet

Scottish physician

Quiz

44 Questions from Britannica’s Most Popular Health and Medicine Quizzes

A Yorkshire terrier dressed up as a veterinarian or doctor on a white background. (dogs)

A Visit with the Word Doctor: Medical Vocabulary Quiz

full human skeleton

Diseases, Disorders, and More: A Medical Quiz