The history of pellagra

Andrzej K. Jaworek; Agnieszka Łazarczyk; Przemysław Hałubiec; Monika Leończyk; Filip Staszewski; Anna Wojas-Pelc

doi:10.5114/dr.2021.114610

eISSN: 2084-9893
ISSN: 0033-2526

Dermatology Review/Przegląd Dermatologiczny

Current issue Archive Manuscripts accepted About the journal Special Issues Editorial board Abstracting and indexing Subscription Contact Instructions for authors Ethical standards and procedures

Editorial System

Submit your Manuscript

Editorial Policies

Sarajevo Declaration on Integrity and Visibility of Scholarly Publications

Open access

6/2021
vol. 108

Send email

Copy url:

abstract:

Review article

The history of pellagra

Andrzej K. Jaworek

¹

,

Agnieszka Łazarczyk

¹

,

Przemysław Hałubiec

¹

,

Monika Leończyk

¹

,

Filip Staszewski

¹

,

Anna Wojas-Pelc

¹

Department of Dermatology, Medical College of the Jagiellonian University, Krakow, Poland
Katedra i Klinika Dermatologii, Collegium Medicum Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego, Kraków, Polska

Dermatol Rev/Przegl Dermatol 2021, 108, 554-566

DOI: https://doi.org/10.5114/dr.2021.114610

Online publish date: 2022/03/23

View full text Get citation

PlumX metrics:

Currently pellagra is usually the subject of dermatological or non-dermatological case reports. Since the first description of the disease, its cause has remained unknown for many years. There were no known methods of prevention and treatment. For two centuries, pellagra was an incurable disease and caused several hundred thousand deaths in Europe and North America. Research by clinicians and scientists has made it possible to refute the common theory of the infectious etiology of the disease and link the disease epidemic to maize, which was then the primary source of food for the poor. Consumption limited to this grain resulted in an extreme deficiency of niacin (vitamin B3) and symptoms of pellagra. Niacin supplementation caused the lesions to regress, and became crucial to combat the epidemic. The article presents the first descriptions, the greatest outbreaks of the epidemic and the stormy process of discovering data on the etiology of pellagra, as well as typical clinical features of the diseases.

keywords:

The history of pellagra

Andrzej K. Jaworek 1 , Agnieszka Łazarczyk 1 , Przemysław Hałubiec 1 , Monika Leończyk 1 , Filip Staszewski 1 , Anna Wojas-Pelc 1

pellagra, niacin, corn, history of medicine

Andrzej K. Jaworek

¹

,

Agnieszka Łazarczyk

¹

,

Przemysław Hałubiec

¹

,

Monika Leończyk

¹

,

Filip Staszewski

¹

,

Anna Wojas-Pelc

¹