The Disappearing Spoon: a science history podcast with Sam Kean · Sam Kean, Bleav

The Winter when People Ate Tulips

December 10, 2024·20 min·2 clips

Celiac children who ate fresh bread after famine relief immediately relapsed with symptoms.

This episode explores the medical mystery of why children with celiac disease—a disorder that causes malnutrition—actually improved during the Dutch Hunger Winter famine of 1944-45. Through the story of Dutch pediatrician Willem Dicke, it reveals how wartime conditions helped identify gluten as the cause of celiac disease, saving millions of lives while examining the uncomfortable relationship between war and medical advancement.

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