Chlorosis: the rise and disappearance of a nutritional disease

Abstract

Chlorosis was the first described by Lange in the 16th century as an anemia often found in adolescent girls and young women. Despite the recommendation by Sydenham in the 17th century that the condition be treated with iron supplements, chlorosis was classified among the hysterical diseases. By the end of the 19th century, the incidence of chlorosis apparently increased. It became an important subject of medical literature, but the true nature of the disease remained unknown. Many physicians believed that it was a result of a nervous disorder affecting various organ systems including the blood-forming organs. Iron medication became popular because of its therapeutic value, but its mode of action was controversial. Stockman in 1895 proposed that chlorosis was the result of a nutritional iron deficiency, but his view was largely ignored for decades. After World War I the incidence of chlorosis declined, and the disease ceased to be reported in the 1930s.