What did Joseph Goldberger discover?

What did Joseph Goldberger discover?

Joseph Goldberger discovered the cause of pellagra, a disease resulting from a diet deficient in vitamin B. Pellagra killed many poor Southerners in the early part of the 20th century.

Who discovered the cure for pellagra?

In 1937, researcher Conrad Elvehjem found that nicotinic acid, or niacin, prevented and cured pellagra in dogs. It works as well in humans. Niacin is one of the B vitamins. During the 1930s, great strides were made in understanding the way vitamins work in the chemistry of our bodies.

What was Goldberger cure for pellagra?

Goldberger, though, was thrilled. He had already proved he could stop pellagra by adding fresh food to people’s diets. Now he had proved he could cause pellagra by denying people fresh food. Pellagra wasn’t a germ disease at all but a disease of malnutrition—and ultimately poverty.

When was pellagra first discovered?

In 1907, physicians at two Southern mental institutions began to suspect their patients’ symptoms were the result of pellagra, Italian for “rough or dry skin.” The disease was first identified in 1735 by Spanish physician Gaspar Casál, who called it mal de la rosa (disease of the red rash).

What did Dr Goldberger conclude about the cause of pellagra?

By June 1914, Goldberger concluded that pellagra was caused by inadequate diet, and by late 1915 he had prevented and caused pellagra by dietary manipulation alone. Southern public health officials, politicians, and others rejected the dietary explanation especially because it indicted southern poverty.

How did Goldberger set up his experiment with the inmates?

Goldberger experimented on 11 healthy volunteers from the Rankin State Prison Farm for this 9-month study. The subjects were put on a strict and heavily monitored corn-based diet lacking meat, milk, and vegetables. Goldberger observed that the subjects became weaker and weaker as the days went on.

What was the problem Dr Goldberger was trying to answer in his investigation?

Goldberger believed that an infectious disease was unlikely to distinguish between inmates and employees or so systematically between rich and poor, and he favoured the hypothesis that a superior diet protected people from pellagra.