- Person
- Casimir Funk
- Lived
- 1884–1967
- Field
- Biochemistry
- From
- Polish-American
The story
Pellagra is a serious disease that struck poor communities living largely on maize, or corn. In the early twentieth century its cause was a mystery, and the idea that it might be dietary was far from accepted.
Casimir Funk, a Warsaw-born Jewish biochemist then working at the Lister Institute in London, approached the problem from a new angle. In his 1912 paper on deficiency diseases he listed pellagra among the illnesses caused by the absence of a particular substance in food, alongside beriberi, scurvy and rickets. He predicted an “antipellagric” vitamine, a dietary factor whose presence would prevent the disease.
Funk was an early investigator of pellagra and went further. He suggested that a change in the method of milling corn was responsible for outbreaks of the disease. The idea echoed his work on beriberi, in which the polishing of rice stripped away a protective substance from the grain. But little attention was paid to his article on the subject at the time.
Later research proved him right that pellagra is a deficiency disease. It is caused by a lack of niacin, also known as nicotinic acid or vitamin B3. There was an irony in the discovery. In his search for the substance that prevented beriberi, Funk had isolated nicotinic acid from rice polishings. It did not cure beriberi, which is caused by a lack of thiamine, but scientists later found that it cured pellagra. Funk had held the answer to the disease in his laboratory years before its cause was understood.
Once the cause was known, pellagra could be prevented simply by making sure people's diets contained enough niacin. Funk's broader conclusion, that a lack of vitamins in the diet causes disease, helped researchers develop preventive and curative measures not only for pellagra but for beriberi, rickets, scurvy and other conditions. His work also encouraged the addition of proper nutrients to manufactured foods, one of the simplest ways of keeping such diseases at bay.
Why it matters
Funk's instinct that pellagra was dietary pointed toward the cheap prevention, through niacin in food, that later made the disease rare in many countries.
About Casimir Funk
Warsaw-born biochemist of Jewish descent who coined the word ‘vitamine’ in 1912 and argued that beriberi, scurvy, pellagra and rickets were deficiency diseases.
More about Casimir Funk
- Casimir Funk discovered the idea of vitaminsIn 1912 the Warsaw-born biochemist Casimir Funk coined the word "vitamine" and proposed that missing nutrients cause diseases such as beriberi, scurvy, pellagra and rickets.
- Casimir Funk's book Die Vitamine launched a research boomCasimir Funk's 1914 book Die Vitamine drew scientists into the new field, and within 35 years of his work all 13 known vitamins had been discovered.
- Casimir Funk improved insulin production in WarsawIn 1923, with Rockefeller Foundation support, Casimir Funk returned to Poland to head biochemistry at the State Institute of Hygiene, where he improved the quality of insulin it produced.
- Casimir Funk made the first AMA-accepted vitamin productAfter moving to the United States, Casimir Funk developed Oscodal, a vitamin A and D concentrate that was the first vitamin preparation accepted by the American Medical Association.
- Casimir Funk warned of hidden vitamin shortagesIn his 1936 book Vitamin and Mineral Therapy, Casimir Funk warned that mild vitamin shortages could weaken the body's resistance to infection long before obvious disease appeared.
Sources
- Casimir Funk Wikipedia
- Casimir Funk Encyclopedia.com
Another act of tikkun olam. This is part of tikkun olam, the Jewish idea of repairing the world, and every one of us can add to it.