John Bingham Exploration 7: Pellagra

Pellagra is a nutritional disorder that many people experienced during the dust bowl because of poor the poor diets of people trying to move west. The cause is involved with a lack of niacin or nicotinic acid. Niacin is a B vitamin that can be found in foods such as breads, meats and fish.  Pellagra can also be caused even if niacin is in the food.  These foods may have the substance but it is also possible that the niacin cannot be absorbed from the intestine of certain foods such as maize.

The symptoms of pellagra mostly occur on the skin of the victim but can also occur in diarrhea and memory loss. The skin can have a rash, the mouth and tongue can become swollen and red, and pain and nausea will occur as time goes on.

Today, this disease is mostly prevalent in third world countries. India is an example because most people struggle for their food and the food they get might not have any form of vitamin B in it. My dad who sometimes goes to India for business says he has noticed most of the poorer people walking around the streets with little clothing on have rashes on their bodies. The Indian people who wear cloths may also have it but it is covered up. The people who have to live like this are usually more prone to receive an infection because of the open wounds. I feel a lot is being done to help aid third world countries but helping to include niacin in their diet would benefit them even more.

Rash symptom of Pellagra on the neck of a victim

Rash symptom of Pellagra on the hands of a victim

Works Cited:
"Pellagra PlayV2('en/US/dk/dkskdsdnslddd7stdtgk');playV2('en/UK/dk/dkskdsdnslddd7stdtgk')." TheFreeDictionary.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Oct. 2012. <http://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/pellagra>.

"Google Images." Google Images. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Oct. 2012. <https://www.google.com/imghp?hl=en>.