Photo: NZ Medical JournalA 5-year-old boy who lived on a diet of chicken and biscuits has been diagnosed with the rare disease scurvy. Scurvy is a disease caused by severe, prolonged vitamin C deficiency, and is historically associated with sailors who lacked fruit and vegetables at sea hundreds of years ago. Treatment involves daily vitamin C supplementation, which usually reverses symptoms quickly. "A presumed diagnosis of scurvy was made secondary to this restricted diet." Scurvy is often thought of as a historical disease, particularly in in relation to the 15th to 18th centuries.

Source: Otago Daily Times March 13, 2026 21:37 UTC