VIII. EFFECTS OF DEFICIENCY 



305 



It may be of some significance that the incidence of eczema^' and skin 

 eruptions^^ is less in infants maintained on breast milk than on cow's milk 

 mixtures. Admittedly many factors may be concerned with this difference; 

 howe^'er, it may be pointed out that the content of linoleic acid is much 

 greater in breast milk than in cow's milk.** 



^»M!"«<^aa»*!(|^ 



Fig. 14. Photographs of a patient included in the study of Grupper and .\zerad. 

 (A. Burgos. ^8 a) 



h. Low Fat Intake Because of Necessity or Because of Derangement in Fat 

 Absorption 



It is recognized that a prolonged low fat diet leads to a craving for fat. 

 This is due probably to the satiety value of fat per se rather than to a need 

 for specific acids. It has been observed, however, that when people are 

 deprived of fat for long periods of time, an increase in the incidence of skin 

 abnormalities seems to appear. Freudenberg of Basel, Switzerland, in a 

 personal conversation, stated that he had observed this phenomena in 

 Central Europe in both World Wars I and II. It may well be that some of 



"^2 C. G. Grulee and H. N. Sanford, ./. Pedial. 9, 223 (1936). 

 " E. C. Robinson, Am. J. Diseases Children 59, 1002 (1940). 

 " T. P. Hilditch and M. L. Meara, Biochem. J. 38, 29 (1944); 38, 437 (1944). 



