Scurvy (vitamin C deficiency)
A disease caused by prolonged lack of vitamin C, which the body needs to make collagen. It causes bleeding, swollen and bleeding gums, easy bruising, poor wound healing, and tiredness. Once the scourge of sailors, it still occurs today with very poor diets and responds rapidly to vitamin C.
What it is
Scurvy is the disease of severe, prolonged vitamin C (ascorbic acid) deficiency. Vitamin C is essential for making and stabilising collagen — the protein that gives strength to skin, blood vessels, gums, bone and connective tissue — and also aids iron absorption and acts as an antioxidant. Humans cannot make vitamin C and store only small amounts, so a diet almost devoid of fruit and vegetables for weeks to months leads to deficiency. Historically it devastated sailors on long voyages without fresh food, until citrus was found to prevent it. Today it is uncommon but far from gone: it appears with very restricted or monotonous diets, alcohol or drug dependence, severe mental illness or isolation, eating disorders, and in some older people, infants on unfortified diets, or people with malabsorption. As collagen fails, blood vessels become fragile: the classic features are swollen, purple, bleeding gums (in people with teeth), bleeding into the skin and around hair follicles (with characteristic 'corkscrew' hairs), easy bruising, joint and muscle pain, poor wound healing, and profound tiredness; an iron-related anaemia is common. The diagnosis rests on the clinical picture and dietary history, can be supported by a low vitamin C level, and it improves strikingly within days of vitamin C replacement.
Key lab markers
- Vitamin C — low; supports the diagnosis, though scurvy is largely clinical.
- Haemoglobin — often low (anaemia is common in scurvy).
- Iron studies — vitamin C aids iron absorption, so deficiency can worsen iron-related anaemia.
- General nutrition markers (albumin) — may reflect associated malnutrition.
- Response to vitamin C — rapid improvement confirms the diagnosis.
Symptoms
- Swollen, purple, bleeding gums (in people with teeth); loose teeth
- Easy bruising and pinpoint bleeding into the skin
- 'Corkscrew' body hairs with surrounding bleeding
- Poor or delayed wound healing; old wounds reopening
- Joint and muscle pain, sometimes bleeding into joints
- Profound tiredness, weakness and low mood
- Anaemia (pale skin, breathlessness)
Related symptoms
Related lab panels
When to discuss with a doctor
Scurvy is worth recognising because it is easily and rapidly reversed with vitamin C, yet causes real suffering and bleeding if missed. Suspect it when bleeding or swollen gums, easy bruising, poor wound healing and marked tiredness occur together, especially in someone whose diet has been very poor in fruit and vegetables for weeks or longer — for example with alcohol dependence, isolation, eating disorders or severe food restriction. It responds within days to vitamin C replacement, alongside addressing the underlying dietary cause. Mediora.AI can surface a low vitamin C alongside the anaemia and bleeding pattern that point toward scurvy, but confirming the diagnosis and starting treatment belongs with your doctor — and significant bleeding should be assessed promptly.