Scurvy Definition, Symptoms & Treatment: Raising a Vegan Baby? Almond Milk, Plant-Based Formula can Give Infants This Disease

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An 11-month old baby in Spain developed scurvy after being fed almond-milk. The disease is caused by lack of vitamin C, a mineral that is essential to the proper growth and development of infants. According to the NHS, vitamin C or ascorbic acid is absorbed by the body to make the protein collagen needed to make or replace tissues in the bones, skin, blood vessels and cartilage.

Patients with scurvy usually experience tissue breakdown and as a result will feel gum swelling and bleeding, fatigue, muscle and joint pain and red dots on the skin. It is important to get regular doses of vitamins from food sources because the human body can't make it on its own. Scurvy can escalate to jaundice, fatal heart conditions and swelling.

In infants, scurvy can be a more serious condition. The baby brought at the hospital was tested and it showed that he had very low vitamin C levels, bone loss and fractures in his legs and was diagnosed with the condition.

According to CBS News, when the baby was at least 2 months old, he had an allergic reaction to cow's milk-based formula and was recommended with almond milk by his pediatrician. When he was six months old, the mother apparently gave her baby pureed fruits and veggies but he refused to take them. The baby was able to sit up at 7 months old but by 11 months, he was unable to sit and could not walk.

"This case presents scurvy as a new and severe complication of improper use of almond beverage in the first year of life," said the researchers in the report they published in the journal Pediatrics. "Pediatricians and parents should be aware that plant-based beverages are not a complete food and they may not replace breastfeeding or infant formula."

When the baby's condition was discovered, he was put on infant formula and variety of meat, fruits and vegetables. He was also given vitamin C and D supplements. According to Reuters, the baby was able to walk normally 2 months after being put into a new diet and his vitamin C and D levels were normal. His x-ray tests also show signs of improvement.

According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), babies that are less than a year old should have at least have 40 milligrams of vitamin C every day. In addition to breast milk, other good sources of vitamin C are fruits and vegetables such as orange, kiwifruit, strawberries, broccoli, cabbage, spinach, grapefruit and red peppers.