pellagra

noun

Etymology: From Italian pellagra, from Latin pellis (“skin”) + Ancient Greek ἄγρα (ágra, “seizure, attack, catching”).

1. A disease characterised by skin lesions and mental confusion, primarily caused by a niacin deficiency.

   “In 1755 the French physician Gaspar Casal (1680–1759) published an account of pellagra, then a new disease in Spain.”

   “Mixing the alkali into the recipe in the right way chemically releases the otherwise unavailable niacin in the corn, which stops pellagra in its tracks, and allowed corn-based agricultural populations to grow and spread.”