People taking GLP-1 weight loss injections could be at risk of developing scurvy, top dieticians have warned.
The condition, a severe vitamin C deficiency, is traditionally associated with the Victorian era, and sailors, who, in the 1800s, developed the condition due to a lack of nutrients while out at sea.
However, recent data shows the disease, which can be life-threatening, is seeing a resurgence in the UK, with cases rising 25 per cent since 2007 due to poor diets.
A systematic review of existing research, led by the Australian professor Clare Collins, found that very few global trials of weight loss drugs have accounted for patients’ diet and food intake during their use.
Experts have said this means many patients have been functionally malnourished, sometimes developing serious vitamin deficiencies like scurvy.
Scurvy is caused by not consuming enough vitamin C, which is found in citrus fruit, broccoli and potatoes.
Typical symptoms include feeling tired, weak and irritable, severe joint or leg pain and swollen and bleeding gums.
An estimated 1.6million adults in England, Wales and Scotland used weight loss drugs, such as Wegovy and Mounjaro, between early 2024 and early 2025, according to a University College London study.
People taking GLP-1 weight loss injections could be at risk of the Victorian disease scurvy, top dieticians have warned
Scurvy is caused by not consuming enough vitamin C, which is found in citrus fruit, broccoli and potatoes
Part of what makes weight loss drugs so effective for weight loss and diabetes management is their ability to suppress appetite.
But restricted diets often lead to people missing out on the nutrients they need to stay healthy.
‘A reduction in body weight does not automatically mean the person is well-nourished or healthy,’ Collins told the Australian Financial Review.
‘Nutrition plays a critical role in health and right now it’s largely missing from the evidence.’
One of the most well-known people to have developed scurvy from fat jabs is former Take That member Robbie Williams, who turns 52 later this week.
Last year, Williams revealed that he was diagnosed with scurvy after he stopped eating while taking a weight loss drug.
‘I’d stopped eating and I wasn’t getting nutrients,’ he said, explaining he was undernourished and lacking in vitamin C, leading to scurvy which he dubbed: ‘A 17th-century pirate disease.’
Williams previously credited his two stone weight loss to ‘something like Ozempic’, sharing in a 2023 interview that he’d gone from weighing 13st 13lb to 12st 1lb while using an appetite suppressant.
Robbie Williams revealed that he was diagnosed with scurvy after he stopped eating while taking an appetite-suppressant drug (pictured in November 2024)
Symptoms of scurvy may include: feeling very tired and weak, feeling irritable and sad all the time, joint, muscle or leg pain, swollen bleeding gums, and developing red or blue spots on the skin usually on the legs and feet
In recent years, doctors writing in BMJ Case Reports have warned of a trend of scurvy cases, driven by rising cost-of-living pressures and poor diets lacking sufficient fruit and vegetables.
And it’s not the only Dickensian disease staging a comeback in modern Britain.
In fact, a whole host of diseases that were rife in the Victorian era are spreading, with malnutrition, a fall in vaccination rates and reduced funding for public health being blamed.
In 2022, there were more than 800,000 admissions in England and Wales with conditions linked to poor nutrition, including scurvy and rickets.
Rickets is caused by a severe and long-term deficiency in vitamin D, calcium or phosphorus, the nutrients needed for healthy bones.
It is most often seen in children, and causes bone pain, poor growth, and deformities like bowed legs.
Nearly 11,000 people in England, including hundreds of children, were hospitalised with malnutrition in 2022.
Scurvy can be traced as far back as 3,800 BC in Egypt.
In modern history, scurvy was documented in the 1500s and more than 2million sailors died from the condition between the 16th and 18th centuries.
Scurvy was thought to have disappeared in the UK in the 1900s once it was discovered that eating a more well-balanced diet seemed to prevent it.
Without vitamin C, the body cannot make enough collagen or heal as quickly, which leads to issues like bleeding gums and loosened teeth, scaly skin, brittle hair, bleeding underneath the skin, muscle fatigue, anemia and bruising.
Vitamin C, a vital nutrient for tissue growth and wound healing, is found in citrus fruits, potatoes, red and chilli peppers, strawberries and tomatoes.
It is also needed to make collagen, a major building block for the skin, bones, ligaments, blood, muscles and cartilage.
According to the NHS website, smoking can also put people at risk of developing scurvy as it reduces how much vitamin C your body gets from food.
Having a poor diet while pregnant or breastfeeding can put women at risk because the body needs more vitamin C at these times.
Malnutrition occurs when a diet does not include the right amount of nutrients, with unintentional weight loss, a low body weight and feeling tired and weak being key signs.
Scurvy can also cause swollen legs and pain so severe that children may refuse to walk.
To prevent a vitamin C deficiency, the NHS recommends eating plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables as part of a healthy, balanced diet.
