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The first clues to the treatment of scurvy occurred in 1535—1536 when Jacques Cartier, on advice from Newfoundland Indians, fed his crew an extract from spmce tree needles to cure an epidemic. Various physicians were recommending the use of citms fmits to cure scurvy in the mid-sixteenth century. Two hundred years later, in 1753, it was proved by Dr. James Lind, in his famous clinical experiment, that scurvy was associated with diet and caused by lack of fresh vegetables. He also demonstrated that oranges and lemons were the most effective cure against this disease. In 1753, inM Treatise on the Scurvy[ Lind pubhshed his results and recommendations (7). Eorty-two years later, in 1795, the British Navy included lemon juice in seamen s diets, resulting in the familiar nickname "limeys" for British seamen. Evidence has shown that even with undefined scorbutic symptoms, vitamin C levels can be low, and can cause marked diminution in resistance to infections and slow healing of wounds. 

At this point, it may be useful to the reader to understand some of the background that has led to the contemporary design of human clinical trials. Although the concept of a comparative trial was known in the ninth century bc, it remained for James Lind in 1774 to perform his famous trial. Lind was concerned with comparing several different recommended treatments of the day for scurvy. Lind demonstrated that when all of the proposed treatments were compared in a controlled study in human volunteers, only one proved efficacious—citrus fruit. It is important to realize that each of the treatments tested was recommended by recognized authorities of the day. It took the comparative trial to prove that citrus juice cured scurvy and the other treatments were worthless. In the process of applying this scientific method, Lind did much to destroy the credibility of testimonials. 

The first description of sauerkraut manufacture, comparable to the methods used commercially today, was given by James Lind in 1772, in his treatise on scurvy. Barrels, kegs, and stone crocks were the common containers. Wooden vats were introduced in the United States about 1885. Recently, reinforced concrete with plastic coatings and glazed tile vats have been introduced. 

In 1746, a Scottish naval surgeon named James Lind carried out a carefully controlled study of the effect of diet on scurvy and demonstrated, beyond reasonable doubt, that oranges and lemons would cure (or prevent) scurvy. However, it was not until 1795, about three hundred years since it was known that citrus fruit would cure scurvy and about 50 years after Lind s definitive work, that the British Royal Navy insisted that sailors receive a daily dose of a citrus fruit. Opinion and prejudice outweighed scientific evidence to the detriment of many for far too long. 

In the past, scurvy was a disease that killed many sailors. James Lind discovered that eating citrus fruits prevents scurvy. Citrus fruits contain ascorbic acid (vitamin C). Research the life of James Lind, and write a brief biography. 

AO/FRS - scavenges DPPH, nitrite (NO -), OH, 02 02-, ONOO- regenerates a-Tocopherol from a-Tocopheryl radical antiageing nutriceutical vitamin C-deficiency disease scurvy cured by lime juice — found by Dr James Lind promoted by Captain James Cook in British navy (18th century) — hence limeys Dr Lind befriended poet Percy Shelley was thence the source for Frankenstein or The Modern Prometheus by Mary Wollstonecrafi Shelley... 

One category of disease that was largely unreported because it was not well understood at the time was that caused by various nutritional deficiencies. Both sides recognized some correlation between diet and certain diseases—that had been demonstrated by British naval surgeon James Lind with the introduction of orange and lemon juice to prevent scurvy in 1753—but the role of vitamins would not be... 

The human body cannot make its own vitamin C it must be obtained from external sources. Vitamin C also cannot be stored in the body. The disease scurvy, caused by a lack of vitamin C, has always been a threat to people with a limited diet. In 1747, Dr. James Lind studied the effect of diet on sailors who had scurvy. Those whose diet included citrus fruits recovered. In 1795, long before people knew that citrus fruits were rich in vitamin C, the British navy began to distribute lime juice during long sea voyages. For this reason, British sailors were often called limeys. ... 

A large documentation on scurvy has been accumulated during the centuries. Some relevant reports, which contain kinetic information on the development of ascorbate deficiency, will be reviewed briefly. The first well-known, detailed, and comprehensive report on this disease, Treatise on Scurvy, was published in 1757 by the Scottish naval physician James Lind (2). Some case reports are cited here. Thus, during the journey of H.M.S. Salisbury from August 10 to October 28, 1746 (i.e., 75 d), only one sailor was reported ill with the disease. In a report of four ships bound for the East Indies, 105 out of 424 sailors were reported dead from scurvy within 4 months. Other fragmentary notes are oflBcial reports by the Danish and Dutch East India Companies of regular outbreaks of the disease after 5-6 months at sea. This was in the seventeenth century. 

When James Lind, a surgeon in the British Royal Navy, performed his famous experiment (perhaps the first controlled clinical trial) in 1746, he compared the curative effects of several treatments on 12 sailors who had scurvy. Two men were assigned to each of six daily treatments for two weeks. Briefly, the treatments... 

The existence of several excellent reviews and treatises on ascorbic acid has made unnecessary the detailed treatment of the older references. The historical aspect of much of our present knowledge on ascorbic acid was discussed in a symposium (L15) on the bicentenary of publication of James Lind s Treatise of the Scurvy (L14). In the same year, two other useful reviews were published. Meikeljohn (M18) gave a critical evaluation of the effects of vitamin C on physiology, dealing as he did with different problems related to the field of medicine. More detailed information, less critically evaluated, was presented by Lloyd and Sinclair (L19). The most systematic and comprehensive appraisal of ascorbic acid in all its aspects represents the contributions by a number of workers in the field, compiled in The Vitamins, (S14). The recent advances in knowledge of biosynthesis of ascorbic acid have been described by Burns (B38) and Burns and AshweU (B39). There was a recent symposium on ascorbic acid with contributions from many workers (K6). 

D20. Dudley, S., James Lind laudatory address. In Lind Bicentenary Symposium. Ptoc. Nutrition Soc. (EngL and Scot.) 12, 202-209 (1953). 

The sailors given boiled apple juice improved slightly. The remainder continued to deteriorate. Lind s Treatise on the Scurvy was published in 1753, FIGURE 2 James Lind, but inaction persisted in the 17i 6-1794 naval sur-Royal Navy for another 40 years, geon, 1 739-1 748. 

Any general work must include these classic bits of history. Perhaps unusually, clinical trials appear to be a European scientific invention. There is no evidence that either the ancient world or the mediaeval Arabs carried out prospective studies (although there are some anachronisms in recent fiction). It is generally accepted that the earliest clinical trial was held by James Lind. 

Dunn, R, 1997. James Lind (1716-94) of Edinburgh and the treatment of scurvy. Archive of Disease in Childhood Foetal Neonatal, United Kingdom British Medical Journal Publishing Group76(1), 64-65. doi http //dx.doi.org/10.1136/fn.76.1.F64.PMC 1720613. PMID9059193. Retrieved 17.01.2009. 

James Lind (1716-1794) and his famous publication "A Treatise of the Scurvy in Three Parts" (1753) and AmbersweeV oranges (Citrus sinensis). 

The history of vitamin C is common knowledge. In the mid-18th century James Lind demonstrated that the juice of fresh citrus fruits cures scurvy (197). The active agent, the enolic form of 3-keto-L-gulofuranlactone, christened ascorbic acid or vitamin C, was isolated in the late 1920 s by Albert Szent-Gybrgyi (317). By the mid-1930 s, methods had been devised to synthesize the compound, and it soon became widely available at low cost. It was soon established that the substance was virtually nontoxic at any dosage. The structure of vitamin C is shown in Chart 1. 

Most vitamins were discovered in the early 1900 s, although their presence in certain foods had been noted. Scientists first recognized vitamin A in 1913. Since the Middle Ages, an unidentified substance in cod liver was known to prevent rickets, and in the 1920 s, this substance, vitamin D, was isolated from vitamin A. As early as 1753, English physician James Lind had noted that sailors fed citrus fruits avoided scurvy. It was not until 1928, however, that vitamin G was first isolated. Deficiencies of substances, later named B vitamins, were known to result in beriberi, peUegra, and other diseases. Scientists classified B vitamins by numbers (Bj, B, Bj, and so on) as they isolated specific types. 

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