Pellagra

(pel-a' -grak). Ergotism, Lombardian Leprosy, Lepra asturiensis; an endemic trop hon eur otic skin disease occurring among the squalid and destitute, due to chronic poisoning with diseased or fermented maize, and affecting chiefly the cerebrospinal and digestive systems. It usually occurs in those between thirty and fifty years of age. It always begins in spring, and the lesion appears on the parts of the body exposed to the air and light (face, neck, back of hands, and feet). It consists of an intense, rapidly-extending erythema, bright-red, livid or brown in color, with much swelling, and causing violent burning or itching. The spreading edge of the patches is much elevated and generally darker than the central portion. There are marked nervous and general symptoms, insanity, mrnia, or melancholia being common. P. sine pellagra,. Pellagra without cutaneous eruption.