SOME RECENT ADVANCES IN VITAMIN THERAPY

Abstract

Long after beriberi, rickets, scurvy and pellagra were recognized and described by physicians, the concept of nutritional deficiency diseases arose. With the development of this concept, a new chapter in medicine came into being. Of late considerable research has been directed toward the isolation and synthesis of so-called accessory food factors, more commonly known as vitamins, and some of these substances have been found effective in the treatment of beriberi, rickets, scurvy and pellagra. The years following the brilliant investigations which led to the isolation, synthesis and clinical trial of thiamine hydrochloride, nicotinic acid, riboflavin, vitamin E, vitamin B6and pantothenic acid have, however, been marked by a period of confusion. The literature with regard to these vitamins, and to the deficiencies arising from a suboptimal amount of them, is vast and often contradictory. The problem is so complex and the precise knowledge so meager that we must accept