Serum cholesterol in vitamin C deficiency in man.

Although Cape Town was founded in 1652 to combat the ravages of scurvy in ships at sea, goo years later scurvy was still rife there. Some 10-15 years ago there was a continuous migration into this urban area of rural Bantu males, whose aim was to make sufficient money as unskilled labourers, in as short a time as possible, so that they might return to their homelands with the requisite marriage fee. This purpose was achieved by restricting variety in food intake, and scurvy resulted. Indeed this situation prompted a study of the anaemia in scurvy, in one report on which the dietary circumstances were fully explained (Bronte-Stewart, 1953). Now scurvy is rapidly becoming a rare disease. Between 1948 and 1953 there were twelve to fifteen admissions annually to this hospital, but over the last 4 years there have been only three admissions. This rapid decrease in incidence has prompted the publication at this stage of the following findings on serum cholesterol before, during and after recovery from scurvy.