Keywords: Dermatitis, diarrhea, niacin deficiency,
pellagra.
"The peasants who had been eating millet -- which tastes like a combination of dust and potting soil -- got access to corn and
pellagra became a big problem."
It can be primary or secondary to organic diseases such as cerebrovascular disease, Parkinsonism, multiple sclerosis, diabetes, hypothyroidism, hyperthyroidism,
pellagra, malignancy, dementia, and substance abuse, such as cannabis abuse (18).
There is no index listing for beriberi,
pellagra, rickets, or scurvy.
We had a patient with
pellagra, which is a vitamin deficiency disease consisting of three Ds, diarrhea, dermatitis and dementia.
Niacinamide (nicotinamide) is a form of vitamin B3 (niacin) and is used to prevent and treat niacin deficiency (
pellagra).
A lack of niacin in the diet will eventually result in
pellagra, a deficiency disease characterized by dermatitis (skin rash), diarrhea, and dementia.
Diagnosis records include syphilis, poverty,
pellagra (a nutritional disease endemic to the early 20th century South) and hysteria, which was related to"excessive emotions, anxiety and sexual forwardness in women," said Michelle Davenport, who researched some of the remains as a graduate student.
Pellagra: A clinical niacin deficiency syndrome characterized by dermatitis, inflammation of the mucous membranes, diarrhea, and psychic disturbances (e.g., depression, irritability, anxiety, disorientation, or hallucinations).
Outbreaks of both rare deficiency diseases (example
pellagra, beriberi) and common micronutrient deficiencies (example vitamin A, iodine and iron) have been reported among IDPs [23].
The corn has to be soaked in lime (often from seashells) to make the flour hold together, and that process also makes the niacin in corn available and prevents
pellagra. Grinding the corn is done with a stone metate, a spiritual tool that connects the mother both to the earth and to the ancestors.
The differential diagnosis includes such dermatological diseases as contact dermatitis, inertrigo, acrodermatitisenteropathica,
pellagra, psoriasis, eczema, pemphigus and seborrheic dermatitis [9, 10].
In the present study some associated conditions like renal calculi, cervical rib,
pellagra, verruca vulgaris were present in one patient each and pityriasis versicolor and caries of teeth were observed in two patients each.
similarities with
pellagra (nicotinic acid deficiency) and
John Snow's ideas about water-borne disease; James Lind's nonrandomized trial of scurvy; Joseph Goldberger's studies of
pellagra before we knew what vitamins were: these people weren't following the fashion of their times, they were struggling against the current of popular medical thought.
