Pellagra
Pellagra is a terrible disease characterised by the four Ds: dermatitis, diarrhoea, dementia and death. It was first noted in northern Spain in 1735 and in Italy soon afterwards.
The struggle to understand the causes of pellagra and how to cure and prevent it played out first in Italy and then in the United States, where 1906 saw a large outbreak in Alabama.
By the 1920s, it had almost vanished in Italy but was still raging in the US.
Competing explanations were driven by large egos and expediency rather than evidence. That was true even after Dr Joseph Goldberger of the US Public Health Service proved that the disease was not contagious and that the deficiency could be quickly reversed with a proper daily diet or a tablespoon of dried yeast.
A complicated story and a suitable finale for this season of Eat This Podcast.
Take care
