Goldbergers War
Early 20th century saw the outbreak of a deadly mysterious disease,pellagra that could cause anything from fever to dementia to death. Thedisease that had killed over 100,000 people by the end of 1914 was shroudedin deep mystery because of the fact that the epidemic was largely limitedto the South and was exclusively affecting the peasant class. It was indeeda poor man's disease and conventional wisdom suggested it had something to "Pellagra, a classic dietary deficiency disease caused by insufficient niacin, was noted in the South after the Civil War. Then considered infectious, it was known as the disease of the four Ds: diarrhea, dermatitis, dementia, and death. The first outbreak was reported in 1907. In 1909, more than 1000 cases were estimated based on reports from 13 states. One year later, approximately 3000 cases were suspected nationwide based on estimates from 30 states and the District of Columbia. By the end of 1911, pellagra had been reported in all but nine states, and prevalence estimates had increased nearly ninefold. During 1906- 1940, approximately 3 million cases and approximately 100,000
The worst hit areawas Mississippi where it appeared that the incidence of pellagra increasedevery time cotton prices went down and every time flood hit the Mississippicoast. " (5)At that time, physicians attributed massive impact of the disease on itscontagious and infectious nature, something that had hitherto beenunexamined by the medical circles or research groups. " but on the whole pellagra is now a forgotten disease of the past. During the firstthree weeks of his research, Goldberger carefully observed pellagra-infected patients and their environment. The disappearance of this disease cannot be attributed solely to dietarychanges because it is believed that major social and economic changesplayed a major role. Brewer was accused of staging the whole drama to release two prisoners whowere his friends and Goldberger was accused of torturing the innocenthelpless people. With reduction in agricultural activities and peopleturning to industries, a largely variety of food was available whichresulted in eradication of pellagra. Public Health assigned Joseph Goldberger to task of studying pellagra'scauses and to explain its presumably infectious nature. Southwas simply unwilling to accept that its people were living in sub humanconditions and even refused to accept Red Cross aid. After the 9-month study, 6 out of 11inmates were found infected with pellagra. In 1915's experiment with Rankin Prison Farm inmates, Brewer offeredcomplete pardon to these human subjects at the end of the experiment in hisattempt to help Goldberger discover the cause and cure since Mississippihad been badly hit by the disease. politics of social andeconomic deprivation. 97) and whosecorrect causes and cure every politician in the country was apparentlyseeking could become a contentious and controversial political issue whencorrect etiology was offered. In short, Goldberger offered the hypothesis that pellagra with a highmorality rate was actually not caused by any germ as was previouslybelieved.
Common topics in this essay:
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Acceptance Essays
