Pellagra Research Paper
PELLAGRA
Pellagra was a disease that affected hundreds of thousands of residents within the southeastern region of the United States from the time of its first known reports in the early 1900 's to the end of World War II, in 1945. Dr. Joseph Goldberger, from New York, was given credit for finding the cure for Pellagra. Contributing to the Goldberger 's cure were the discoveries of doctors and scientists prior to and during the time that Dr. Goldberger was working on the cure himself.
Pellagra was a painful disease that over time slowly killed the people that were afflicted with the disease. Pellagra, occurring almost exclusively in the poorer classes, is easily observed by the discoloration and thickening of the skin (usually the hands, neck, and the feet). The lesions on the skin are usually spread evenly, symmetrical on both sides of the body. Other symptoms of pellagra are reddened tongue and a scalding sensation in the mouth. This disease eventually causes weakness, nervousness, indigestion, and in advanced stages, diarrhea and various …show more content…
One report stated that pellagra had spread through the mill villages like wildfire, and that people feared the disease contagious and linked pellagra to plagues described in the Bible (Facts, Reminiscences, Folklore, p.393). The fear was so great that an article appeared in the Spartanburg Herald on January 10, 1914, asking for land to be set aside to build a farm for pellagra victims, in an attempt to quarantine them from the population. When this particular article is written, not much is known about pellagra, except from the Thompson-McFadden Report, which stated that the disease was contagious and that is was due to bad sanitation. The article suggested that pellagra victims be isolated, where they can grow their own food and their bodily waste be disposed of properly
Pellagra was a disease that affected hundreds of thousands of residents within the southeastern region of the United States from the time of its first known reports in the early 1900 's to the end of World War II, in 1945. Dr. Joseph Goldberger, from New York, was given credit for finding the cure for Pellagra. Contributing to the Goldberger 's cure were the discoveries of doctors and scientists prior to and during the time that Dr. Goldberger was working on the cure himself.
Pellagra was a painful disease that over time slowly killed the people that were afflicted with the disease. Pellagra, occurring almost exclusively in the poorer classes, is easily observed by the discoloration and thickening of the skin (usually the hands, neck, and the feet). The lesions on the skin are usually spread evenly, symmetrical on both sides of the body. Other symptoms of pellagra are reddened tongue and a scalding sensation in the mouth. This disease eventually causes weakness, nervousness, indigestion, and in advanced stages, diarrhea and various …show more content…
One report stated that pellagra had spread through the mill villages like wildfire, and that people feared the disease contagious and linked pellagra to plagues described in the Bible (Facts, Reminiscences, Folklore, p.393). The fear was so great that an article appeared in the Spartanburg Herald on January 10, 1914, asking for land to be set aside to build a farm for pellagra victims, in an attempt to quarantine them from the population. When this particular article is written, not much is known about pellagra, except from the Thompson-McFadden Report, which stated that the disease was contagious and that is was due to bad sanitation. The article suggested that pellagra victims be isolated, where they can grow their own food and their bodily waste be disposed of properly