Abstract
OF the chronic diseases which are directly related to the food supply and only indirectly connected with the presence of infective agents, most attention has in recent years been paid to that group in which the symptoms are due to the deficiency of some element in the diet, more especially that of one of the vitamins; scurvy, beri-beri, and probably rickets are among the diseases in this class. The other group, of which ergotism is the best known example, is due to the presence in the food consumed of small quantities of some poison, which after prolonged administration affects various organs of the body with the production of symptoms. The chronicity of the disease distinguishes this group from cases of acute poisoning due to bacterial products taken with the food or to the ingestion of some well-known poisonous substance.
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Lathyrism. Nature 116, 260–261 (1925). https://doi.org/10.1038/116260a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/116260a0
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