Does is scurvy run through the family?

Answer 1

Scurvy is a disease which is almost always attributable to an extreme lack of vitamin C in the diet. It is easily preventable by eating citrus fruit or drinking the juice of citrus fruit; for example, Oranges, lemons and limes.

The association between scurvy and some nutritional lack became apparent even before scientists had come up with the concept of "vitamins", but the British Royal Navy noted the connection and began supplying Royal Navy ships with a supply of fruit. British sailors got the nickname "limeys" - even though the majority of the fruit supplied were lemons.

While it is at least possible that there might be a genetic link to an inability to process vitamin C in the diet to prevent the disease, I'm not aware that this has been much of a factor. So if scurvy were to "run in the family", it would almost certainly have a cultural connection; the parents never ate citrus, so the children didn't either.