The Nightmare Disease that Terrified Pirates...

Pirates were formidable foes in battle, clever and able to outwit their opponents as often as not. They battled the elements, weathering extreme storms and scorching heat, and yet. One thing could strike fear into a pirates heart – scurvy. Pirates were especially vulnerable to scurvy as their diets were incredibly poor, and so they couldn’t get the required level of vitamin C needed to avoid coming down with this disease. Around 2 million sailors are thought to have died from this disease between the 16th and 18th centuries, and it often wiped out entire crews or left them weak, stinking, and bleeding from every orifice. As one Navy surgeon described it, once a pirate has succumbed to scurvy then “death closes the scene.” Welcome to Walk the Plank 00:00 Introduction 00:51 Vitamin Sea 02:14 What Scurvy Did To The Body 04:05 Modern Scurvy 05:33 What Pirates Thought About It 07:25 Treatments 10:13 Outro If you enjoyed this video and want to stay updated on our latest content, be sure to hit the like button, subscribe to our channel, and turn on notifications. We're constantly working on new and exciting videos, so stay tuned for more! Thank you for your support, and we'll see you in the next video! #walktheplank