Preliminaries; Contents; List of Illustrations; List of Tables; Preface; 1. The National Disease of Japan; 2. Rice as a Staple Food; 3. Studies in the Colonies: A Dutchman's Chickens; 4. The Chicken Disease Reinterpreted; 5. The British Take Their Turn; 6. The Americans Call a Meeting; 7. The Isolation and Construction of a Vitamin; 8. Chemical Analyses of Foods: Explanations and Surprises; 9. Beriberi without White Rice; 10. How Much Thiamin Do We Need?; 11. How Should the Knowledge Be Used?; 12. Aspects of the Subject in Hindsight; Appendices; Notes; References; Index
Summary
In this comprehensive account of the history and treatment of beriberi, Kenneth Carpenter traces the decades of medical and chemical research that solved the puzzle posed by this mysterious disease. Caused by the lack of a minute quantity of the chemical thiamin, or vitamin B1 in the diet, beriberi is characterized by weakness and loss of feeling in the feet and legs, then swelling from fluid retention, and finally heart failure
Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references (pages 241-274) and index
