Dr. James Lind, an English physician discovered scurvy in the 1800s. The sailors on board British naval ships contracted scurvy and died of bleeding of gums, internal organs, and joints. It was found that the reason for the disease was lack of fruits and vegetables without which they were not getting enough Vitamin C. The amount of Vitamin C required for preventing scurvy is as little as 60 mg a day, which most of us get in the normal way of eating unless deprived of fruits and vegetables for extended periods of time.

There has been a hypothesis that a low grade sub-clinical scurvy still exists without appropriate amounts of Vitamin C. This is sub-clinical because it is not diagnosable with outward symptoms that manifest only under extreme deprivation of Vitamin C, which when diagnosed is scurvy. This chronic low grade undiagnosed scurvy causes collagen break down and cracks in blood vessels. Body has a glue like substance it manufactures to patch these cracks. It is called Lipoprotein (a) or Lp(a), a form of cholesterol. So, it is not the cholesterol that causes the initial damage, but rather it is there to help the damage that has already been done. This patching by Lp(a) is body’s way of dealing with an injury due to lack of collagen integrity under the absence or deficiency of material needed for collagen strength and repair. So, Lp(a) patching is kind of a life saver, but it is the wrong way to address the collagen integrity as it is not stable enough, but the body has been forced to deal with under extreme conditions without which we will bleed to death internally.

This improper collagen repairs caused by lack of collagen integrity, stability and strength due to insufficient material needed for proper collagen building is the primary reason of cardiovascular disease. As the symptoms are not outrightly obvious, this process goes undetected and is a form of low grade chronic sub-clinical scurvy.

To understand the complete issues involved in this process go to Collagen Integrity

and refer to the following articles on patent by Pauling and Rath on the subject.