Scurvy, caused by lack of vitamin C, was a major problem for polar explorers. It 
may have contributed to the general ill-health of the members of Scott's polar 
party in 1912 but their deaths are more likely to have been caused by a 
combination of frostbite, malnutrition and hypothermia. Some have argued that 
Oates's war wound in particular suffered dehiscence caused by a lack of vitamin 
C, but there is little evidence to support this. At the time, many doctors in 
Britain overlooked the results of the experiments by Axel Holst and Theodor 
Frølich which showed the effects of nutritional deficiencies and continued to 
accept the view, championed by Sir Almroth Wright, that polar scurvy was due to 
ptomaine poisoning from tainted pemmican. Because of this, any advice given to 
Scott during his preparations would probably not have helped him minimise the 
effect of scurvy on the members of his party.