Abstract
As is well known, yeast is a specific therapeutic agent in the cure of beri beri or its prototype, polyneuritis gallinarum. Studies upon infants showed, however, that when autolyzed yeast was given in daily quantity of 15 to 30 c.c. a day, it was unable to cure moderate cases of infantile scurvy, even when taken for a period of two to three weeks. Yeast was however able to bring about growth in infants.
Wheat germ was found to possess antiscorbutic power, which however cannot be compared to that of orange juice. In some instances it was able to prevent the occurrence of the subacute scurvy which follows the use of pasteurized milk; in one instance this disorder developed notwithstanding the fact that the infant had received wheat germ and the watery extract of the germ for many weeks.
Scurvy can develop while an infant is making steady gain in weight for weeks or months, and, on the other hand, the symptoms can disappear under antiscorbutic treatment, although no gain is manifested. It is therefore evident that growth is not an essential factor connected with the scorbutic condition. This should be borne in mind, and the results of experiments on growth should not be considered as directly transferable to infantile scurvy or similar dietary diseases.
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