Scurvy is a  serious disease determined by vitamin C defficiency , a substance of extreme importance in the synthesis of collagen. The impaired collagen syntetis results in the weakening of the small blood vessels (capillaries), which causes , bleeding of the gums, loosening of the teeth and tissue hemorrages with consequent anemia, fatigue and general debility. The disease has been mentioned in ancient documents (Hippocrates) , but the discovery of the link between the diet and the disease has not been made until the experiences of the 18 th century sailors have been studied. The simple observation that  the consumption of fresh fruit helped to prevent the disease was made by James Lind in his book, A Treatise of the Scurvy (1753)

Nowadays scurvy still occurs primarily in teenagers with anorexia or in the elderly, isolated individuals with alcoholism.

The main vitamin C deficiency sign is represented by the impaired production and maintenance of collagen, affecting all fibrous tissues: the matrix of cartilages, the matrix of the bones, the dentine and the vascular endothelium (the non-epithelial structures). As a result the capilaries will develop an increased permeability to the red blood cells, leading to hemorrhages. As the disease progresses, affecting the collagen from the bone matrix, the formation of new bone tissue is stopped but the bone absorption keeps going on and so the bones will become more fragile and friable at the growing ends. The impaired collagen formation will also affect the skin, leading to and increased time for wound healing and an increased risk of infection. In other situations, the collagen structures formed due to the process of wound healing will be absorbed and the wounds will reopen.

Other important symptoms of the disease are the gradual weakening, sunken eyes, tender gums, even loosening and loss of teeth , pain in the skeletal muscles,  and internal bleeding leading to anemia and its symptoms.

Psoriasiform hyperplasia is a characteristic dermatological clinical aspect of scurvy accompanied by the pallor of the lower half of the epidermis.Other dermatological manifestations of the disease are: a rash determined by tiny bleeding spots around the hair follicles, hyperkeratosis and the fact that the skin of the people with scurvy bruises easily.

In the more advanced stages of the disease more symptoms occur. The general edema and oligurai are determined by kidney damage.

Bone involvement is a typical sign for infantile scurvy. The bone becomes brittle with consequent microscopic fractures of the spicules between the shaft and calcified cartilage. Subperiosteal hemorrhage will also occur, because these microscopic fractures loosen the periosteum.

Petechial hemorrhage of the skin and mucous membranes may occur, but only in the severe cases, signs of severe internal bleeding (hematuria, hematochezia, and melena ) have been documented.