The vitamin A story : lifting the shadow of death / Richard D. Semba.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Semba, Richard D.

Contributor:

Semba, Richard D.

Series:

World Review of Nutrition and Dietetics

World review of nutrition and dietetics, 0084-2230 ; v. 104

World Review of Nutrition and Dietetics ; v.104

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Vitamin A deficiency--History.

Vitamin A deficiency.

Vitamin A--History.

Vitamin A.

History, 19th Century.

Night Blindness--history.

Night Blindness.

Vitamin A--therapeutic use.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (224 p.)

Place of Publication:

Basel ; New York : Karger, c2012.

Language Note:

English

System Details:

Mode of access: World Wide Web.

Summary:

This book shows how vitamin A deficiency before the vitamin was known to scientists affected millions of people throughout history. It is a story of sailors and soldiers, penniless mothers, orphaned infants, and young children left susceptible to blindness and fatal infections. We also glimpse the fortunate ones who, with ample vitamin A-rich food, escaped this elusive stalker. Why were people going blind and dying? To unravel this puzzle, scientists around the world competed over the course of a century. Their persistent efforts led to the identification of vitamin A and its essential role in health. As a primary focus of today's international public health efforts, vitamin A has saved hundreds of thousands of lives. But, we discover, they could save many more were it not for obstacles erected by political and ideological zealots who lack a historical perspective of the problem.

Contents:

Contents

Dedication

Preface

Glossary

Chapter 1: Vitamin A Deficiency in Nineteenth Century Naval Medicine

Night Blindness at Sea

Night Blindness Linked to Other Diseases of Malnutrition

Diagnosis and the Search for a Cause

Something Missing from the Food

Chapter 2: Paris in the Time of Françoise Magendie

Different but Hardly Better

Bad Gets Worse

First Steps in the Science of Public Health

D'Arcet's Gelatin for the Needy and the Dietary Nitrogen Studies of Magendie

Chapter 3: Deprivation Provides a Laboratory

A Defect in Alimentation

Gains in Nutrition, Then a Disastrous Reversal

Chapter 4: Free but Not Equal

Race and Rank: Differences in Diet and Susceptibility

Uneven Nutrition outside the Union Army

Chapter 5: The Long, Rocky Road to Understanding Vitamins

Moving Beyond Old Assumptions and Around New Certainties

Connecting the "Accessory Factors" and the Vitamin Deficiency Diseases

Finding an Elusive Panacea in Milk

Obstructions, Chicanery, and Perseverance

Lafayette Mendel's Far-Flung Progeny and His Legacy

Chapter 6: Milk, Butter, and Early Steps in Human Trials

The High Health Cost of a Booming Dairy Industry

Milk Studies in Britain: Experiments in Experimentation

Interference from Within and Without

Lessons Learned

Chapter 7: Rise of the "Anti-Infective Vitamin"

Abating Childbed Fever: A Path with Forks and Obstacles

A Gentle Warrior Confronts a Children's Predator

A Vitamin's Short Stay at the Limelight

Chapter 8: Vitamin A Deficiency in Europe's Former Colonies

Dutch Initiative versus the Free Market

Health in the Developing World Becomes a Multinational Concern

Chapter 9: Saving the Children: Rescue Missions against Strong Undertow

Ideals for a New Era

The Best Laid Plans...

Getting It Right and on the International Agenda

External Obstructions

Much Accomplished, More to Do

More Vegetables and Fruit: Nice Idea, but...

Appendix: Night Blindness Among Black Troops and White Troops in the US Civil War

Bibliography

Manuscript Sources

Published Sources

Subject Index

Cover.

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

CC BY-NC-ND

Description based on print version record; resource not viewed.

ISBN:

9783318021899

331802189X

OCLC:

813298782

Access Restriction:

Open Access Unrestricted online access