When was the pellagra epidemic in the u.s

George H. He quickly reported his findings to his Medical Association of Alabama colleagues in Click here to view the article. Soon, pellagra would become epidemic throughout the South, and thus the discovery of its etiology became crucial and much-debated.

In the privately endowed Thompson-McFadden Commission made an on-site study of pellagra in the South Carolina mill village of Spartanburg and concluded that the disease was infectious in nature. This erroneous report would haunt the medical profession for years as they searched for the real cause and cure of pellagra. In , the U. Joseph Goldberger was already known for his success in fighting U.

Through observations and experiments at Southern orphanages and prisons, Goldberger found that the disease was not infectious, but instead was caused by a deficiency in the diet. Many poor Southerners consumed a diet solely of meat, meal, and molasses.

Low-wages driving high-deficiency diets made the disease economic in origin. In he rectified this by confirming his conclusions with his own mill village studies, aided by a brilliant statistician, Edgar Sydenstricker.

Click here for more information on Goldberger from the Office of National Institutes of Health website. Click to begin search. My Library Account Hours. Current Covid Health and Safety Guidelines. Reynolds-Finley Historical Library. The secret of the malady of pellagra was eventually solved by Dr. Joseph Goldberger of the U. Public Health Service. By clinical observation, Goldberger hypothesized that pellagra was due to faulty diet. Goldberger was able to prevent and induce pellagra by dietary modification.

The discovery of Goldberger will always be a landmark event in the annals of medicine, nutrition and epidemiology. A narrative of Goldberger's epic work and review of the social history of pellagra during that period will be presented. You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar.

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