The scourge of sailors: scurvy and the first clinical trial

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By Beth Roberts

Scurvy is mostly a disease of the past, yet it prompted one of the first clinical trials back in the 1740s. This is the story of one doctor’s discovery of how to treat it – and why it took half a century for his remedy to start saving lives.

In the 1700s, severe vitamin C deficiency was a common and often fatal condition. During long voyages, sailors would become weak, develop swollen gums and have open sores appear.¹