PELLAGRA AMONG CHRONIC ALCOHOLIC ADDICTS

Abstract

This report is a study of 100 patients at the Philadelphia General Hospital, who presented the cutaneous picture of pellagra. With few exceptions, to be discussed later, all were chronic alcoholic addicts, many of whom were admitted in the acute stage to the alcoholic ward, in the service of Dr. Joseph C. Doane. Others were seen in the different wards with variable complaints. Of the 100 patients, seventy-one were men and twenty-nine women, ranging in age from 25 to 79 years. Symptoms of pellagra first appeared in the latter part of April, and continued until the end of October. Such symptoms were not observed in the patients admitted to the alcoholic ward during the intervening time. The majority were Irish-Americans, who for the most part had always resided in Philadelphia; in addition, there were a few Poles, Russians, Italians and negroes. There were no Jews, however, which is consistent with