Scurvy happens when your body doesn't get enough vitamin C, causing collagen to break down and connective tissue to deteriorate throughout your body. It's historically associated with sailors but still appears today in malnourished individuals, isolated elderly people, and anyone eating an extremely limited diet long-term.
Your body depends on vitamin C to build and maintain collagen — the structural protein holding your tissues, blood vessels, and skin together. When vitamin C runs out, collagen breaks down faster than your body can replace it. Gums start bleeding. Wounds stop healing. Blood vessels weaken and bruise easily. The timeline is slow and sneaky: exhaustion, joint pain, and mood changes can appear weeks or even months before anyone suspects a nutrient deficiency. In the 1700s, sailors on long ocean voyages without fresh fruit or vegetables would develop severe scurvy — historical expedition accounts describe men losing teeth, bleeding internally, and dying before land came into sight. British Navy deaths from scurvy outpaced combat casualties for generations. We haven't fixed this as thoroughly as we like to think. The U.S. officially records fewer than 10 clinical cases annually, but Toronto and Vancouver have documented real outbreaks among homeless populations in recent years. Scurvy didn't disappear. We just stopped looking for it in the right places.
Modern scurvy is mostly a story about access and circumstance, not ignorance. Homeless people surviving on processed or donated shelf-stable food, elderly individuals living alone who've stopped cooking real meals, people with severe mental illness that disrupts eating patterns — these are the groups showing up in clinic reports today. Canadian shelter data from 2020 to 2023 flagged a notable rise in cases, with vitamin C deficiency confirmed in patients who'd been eating almost exclusively packaged foods for months. It's not just about poverty, either. People recovering from major surgery with poor nutritional support, those with conditions like Crohn's disease that impair nutrient absorption, and even people on extreme elimination diets face genuine risk. If you're keeping an eye on an elderly relative who's eating poorly — or you know someone with limited food access who's developed unexplained bruising, persistent fatigue, or fragile-looking skin — it's worth raising with a doctor. These symptoms often get attributed to aging or stress before anyone checks vitamin C levels.
People think scurvy died centuries ago. Wrong. It's showing up in modern homeless populations right now. Others assume you need literally zero vitamin C to get it. That's not how it works, you just need very low amounts for a long stretch. Then there's the myth that bleeding gums is the only symptom. Actually, it causes widespread connective tissue breakdown, emotional disturbances, and exhaustion that looks like depression. Some folks think orange juice instantly fixes it. Vitamin C matters, sure, but recovery takes weeks and complicated cases need medical help.
Yes, genuinely. Vitamin C is fragile — heat, processing, and long storage destroy most of it. Someone living on instant noodles, canned goods without vegetables, and packaged snacks for several months can absolutely develop scurvy symptoms. It doesn't take a dramatic diet; it just takes a consistent absence of fresh or frozen fruits and vegetables over time.
Neither. Scurvy is entirely a nutritional problem — your body simply isn't getting enough vitamin C. You can't catch it from another person, and there's no genetic component that causes it directly. If it seems to run in families, it's because family members are sharing the same poor diet, not passing down a condition through DNA.
See a doctor first. Scurvy symptoms overlap with a lot of other conditions, so a confirmed diagnosis matters before starting treatment. Once confirmed, the standard approach is vitamin C supplementation — typically 500 to 1000 mg daily — alongside real dietary changes that include fruits, vegetables, or fortified foods. Most people improve within a few weeks, but serious cases with complications like internal bleeding or severe joint damage may need hospital care. Don't just hand someone orange juice and hope for the best.