RT Journal
A1 WOOD E
T1 THe appearance of pellagra in the united states
JF Journal of the American Medical Association
JO Journal of the American Medical Association
YR 1909
FD July 24
VO LIII
IS 4
SP 274
OP 282
DO 10.1001/jama.1909.92550040008002h
UL http://dx.doi.org/10.1001/jama.1909.92550040008002h
AB HISTORY OF THE DISEASE 
    It is probable that pellagra existed for many years in Europe before its recognition as a distinct disease. For many years it was considered an unusual manifestation of some other disease such as scurvy or leprosy. The first indication of the disease in literature was made by Ramazzini, who called it mal del padrone. In 1730 Gaspard Casal, a physician of the Asturias, described pellagra under the name lepra asturiensis. This name is accounted for by the fact that leprosy was at that time prevalent in the Asturias and Casal considered pellagra a manifestation of leprosy. Another author accredits the name lepra scorbutica to Casal. Soon after this it was noted in Galatia, and somewhat later in Castile, Rome and Aragon. Among the people it was variously designated as mal de la rosa, mal del sole, or mal de la misera. About 1750 the