DIET AND NUTRITION 



thickening and bronzing of the skin where exposed to 

 light. Nervous symptoms also become prominent as the 

 disease develops. A characteristic of pellagra is its tendency 

 to develop in the spring, and it is much more common 

 among people in low economic circumstances than among 

 the well-to-do. The outstanding research on the subject 

 was carried out by Goldberger between the years 1922 

 and 1926. He seems to have established that it is due to 

 deficiency of one of the water-soluble vitamins, which is 

 now designated by the letter G. Some British workers 

 speak of it as the anti-dermatitis vitamin. It is much 

 more stable toward high temperatures than is the anti- 

 beri-beri vitamin B and survives heating under pressure at a 

 temperature of about 118° for three or four hours. Gold- 

 berger found yeast to be the most potent source of vitamin 

 G. He believes yeast, eggs, meat, and milk, in the order 

 given, to be effective foods in the prevention or cure of 

 pellagra. Yeast administration is widespread in areas where 

 pellagra is endemic, and appears to be effective where 

 taken in sufficient amounts. 



Iodine Deficiency and Goiter. One of the outstanding dis- 

 coveries in the field of nutrition in recent years is the 

 relation of deficiency of iodine in food and water to the 

 incidence of simple goiter. Numerous losses of young farm 

 animals throughout the Great Lakes region northwest- 

 ward into Montana and elsewhere have been due to this 

 cause. The soil in these goitrous regions is practically 

 free from iodine so that plant products grown thereon 

 do not contain it. Injury from iodine deprivation results 

 before birth as well as after. The administration of a 

 suitable amount of iodine to the human population in 

 goitrous areas bids fair to correct this trouble. Kimball 

 has emphasized the inadequacy of iodine therapy for infants 

 born of mothers whose thyroids were deficient in iodine. 

 He points out that the thyroid under these conditions is 



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