LA RONGE, Sask. — Doctors in La Ronge, Sask., have treated 27 cases of scurvy within the last six months, bringing to light the severe impact of food insecurity in the province’s North.
Dr. Jeff Irvine told the news website larongeNow that a colleague was surprised to diagnose a case in May. “The physician started to get some red flags from his other patients and started noticing that there’s even more signs and symptoms of scurvy in these other patients," Irvine said.
"So they started testing more and more, and we’re finding more and more scurvy cases because of that now.” The Lac La Ronge Indian Band hired Irvine to chair an investigation into vitamin C deficiency among members and the wider community. Of 50 vitamin C blood tests, 27 were confirmed to be deficient, pointing to scurvy, and 10 showed low levels.
All patients were over 20 years old and 79 per cent were Indigenous. Scurvy symptoms vary from fatigue and joint pain to hair changes, wounds not healing and loss of teeth. The first case in La Ronge came almost by fluke.
One of Dr. Yoseph Atreyu’s patients came to him with joint pain and, during examination, Atreyu noticed a curious pattern of corkscrew hairs on the person’s knee. He ordered a blood test, which showed vitamin C levels low enough to match a scurvy diagnosis.
Atreyu said he had thought scurvy would be a long shot. "This person wasn’t low economic status, had a good paying job, ate well and was still having the issue,” he said. "This.