Joseph Goldberger
(Girâlt, 1874-Washington, 1929) American bacteriologist of Hungarian origin who demonstrated the non-contagious nature of pellagra.This disease appeared in the United States at the end of the 19th century and spread among humble populations, in which it caused the death of thousands of people.The symptoms consisted of a type of dermatitis characterized by redness accompanied by blisters and pustules, diarrhea, stomach ailments, paralysis and seizures, which in many cases led to dementia or suicide.
In 1914 the The Public Health Service commissioned Goldberger to investigate the causes that produced it.Once the investigations were carried out, he concluded that it was a deficiency state caused by a lack of vitamin PP (nicotinamide), which is found in meat, eggs and some vegetables.In his tests he came to inject himself with secretions from patients that, by not developing in his body, showed the truth of his hypothesis.It also found that in the regions where pellagra struck, the population ate mainly corn and pork.
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