Pellagra Symptoms

The term pellagra has been derived from the Italian word, pelle, which means sour and agra, which means skin. It was first coined by Francesco Frapoli, during the mid 18th century, when this disease had spread on a vast scale across Italy. Pellagra is usually caused by the vitamin B or niacin deficiency in our body. These vitamins act as nutrients which are important for the development of our body. Niacin is required for our body cells to function properly. This disease is associated with diarrhea, dementia and dermatitis and if we do not treat these disease in time, then it could prove to be fatal. Let us see what are the pellagra symptoms and causes.

Causes

As It has already been mentioned, the main cause of pellagra is the lack of niacin in our body. Another cause of this disease is if you take in more amount of leucine, which is an important amino acid. Also if the person is suffering from lack of lysine which often leads to deficiency of niacin, which in turn leads to pellagra. Alteration of protein metabolism is another cause of pellagra.

Symptoms and Signs

Skin Symptoms
The first symptom that you will notice on a person suffering from pellagra is reddening of the skin. It will look like sunburn in the beginning, but slowly the red color changes to brown red. Also the area of the skin which will be exposed to sunlight and heat and friction, those areas will have superficial scaling. Sometimes, there might also be eruption of skin rashes and also the skin might be prone to various bacterial infection. The skin might also start itching, and there will be a burning sensation. The lips, tongue and the gums start swelling and peeling. Lesions occur mainly on the hands, arms and lower legs, neck and even on the face.

Gastrointestinal Symptoms
When it comes to stomach, the main pellagra symptom is diarrhea. People also lose their appetite and they suffer from pain in the abdomen and vomiting. People also suffer from indigestion and feel a burning sensation in their throats. They also have excessive salivation and show signs of constipation. In the mouth, you see ulcers which are very painful and due to which one cannot eat properly. Intestinal bleeding is also one of the other symptoms. Just because people cannot eat properly, they are again taking in less nutrition hence they suffer from malnutrition, which further accelerates the problem of pellagra.

Neurological Symptoms
Some other important symptoms include lack of proper sleep, fatigue and apathy. The person might also get hallucinations and suffer from depression. Not only this, but he/she might also show signs of forgetting things and getting confused about various matters. Aggressive behavior among people suffering from pellagra, has also been reported. Headaches, inflammation of the nerves, dementia, stupor, tremor and finally coma are some of the serious symptoms.

Skeleto-muscular Symptoms
When a person is suffering from pellagra, then the skeleto-muscular symptoms that they show are stiffness of the body and having difficulty in moving arms and legs. They feel as if their whole body has gone stiff. Other symptoms related to skeleto-muscular systems are involuntary or grasping or maybe sucking movements. Sometimes, people also have no control over their muscular movements.

If a person is suffering from pellagra, then at the very first stage of this disease they should be given doses of niacin or vitamin B. Protect the patient from sun and give them lots of healthy food to eat, mainly food rich in vitamin B. If this disease is treated early, then the person can easily be cured.

If you or any of your loved ones are showing any of these symptoms, then do not worry. See a doctor immediately and take in niacin rich food. But it's better to prevent these kinds of diseases rather than suffering from it. So eat healthy and eat food which is rich in niacin!