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103 i NUTRITIONAL DISORDERSLATHYRISM
L a t h yr i s m i s a c om m on d i se a se i n c e r t a i n
pa r t s o f Ind i a ,e spe c i a l l y t he Uni t e d Prov i nc e
s , t he Ce n t ra l Prov i nc e s a ndse ve ra l d i s t r i c t s
o f Be ha r . In 1868 I rv i ng s t a t e d t ha t ne a r l y 7per
cent , of the populat ion of certa in dist r ic ts of the
formerwere aff lic ted wi th th e disease and A cton in 1922 found
that inRew ah th ere w ere 60,OK) cases chiefly affect ing- men in
the earlyprime of l i fe .
In India it has been held for a long time that lathvrisni is due
tocertain poisonous substances occurring in the pea Lallivnis
sativa{khesari dal). Buchanan in 1904 stated that continued
consumption ofk iicsari dal for some months together contributed to
the causation ofthe disease. Lathyru s is a vetch, and the peas of
three species, L.sativa, L. clyincnum, L. ccera are used habitually
as an article of dietin India and Algeria by the people. When
consumed in moderateamount they do not produce any symptoms, but in
times of famineincreased consumption has given rise to epidemics of
severe poisoningespecially among the poorer classes who subsist on
them. Besidesin India outbreaks have also occurred in Italy, France
and elsewhere inRurope. Occasionally similar symptoms have been
produced in cattle.In the laboratory, feeding experiments give
varying results as differentspecies of animals vary greatly in
their susceptibility to the poison.F
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1038 NUTRITIONAL DISORDERSon the centI nervous system. It lia?
been found that dose; of 50 ntgtn.of this toxic base ran produce
paralysis of the hind legs of guinea-pigs.The reason why lnthyrism
is not prevalent throughout the year isthe fact th.it in ordinary
years klicsati dal is free from this conta-mination and hence no
lathyrism occurs, but during the period of faminethe diet "f poorer
classes of people is wholly made up of an importedvariety of
lathvtus contaminated with akti, as it is the cheapest
foodavailable at the time. Moreover when a deficient diet, such as
a wholediet of khesari
