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Rickets - Rickets symptom, treatment, causes

Rickets is a disorder of bone-hardening due to lack of vitamin D in childhood. Adequate calcium and phosphorus in the blood are needed for normal mineralisation of bone, children who get rickets seldom lack these minerals in their diets (they usually get plenty in milk), but when vitamin D is inadequate there cannot absorb them from the bowel. Vitamin D is made in the skin when it is exposed to sunlight, so we do not need much from food, children are liable to develop rickets only when they have little or no exposure to the sun and have a deficient diet, or if other illness (such as MALABSORPTION or severe kidney disease) interferes witn calcium absorption or use. The adult equivalent of rickets is OSTEOMALACIA. Since about 1920. when the role of sunlight in preventing rickets was recognised and cod liveroil (the richest dietary source of vitamin D) began to be widely used, rickets has become rare.

Rickets is a softening of the bones in children potentially leading to fractures and deformity. Rickets is a bone disease that affects children when these deficiencies occur. It causes progressive softening and weakening of the bones' structure. The term rickets is believed to have come from an old English word 'wrickken' meaning to twist or bend and was a very common condition in Victorian times. Today, it is very rare. Rickets is caused by lack of vitamin D, calcium, or phosphate, which leads to softening and weakening of the bones. Rickets is among the most frequent childhood diseases in many developing countries. Rickets is fairly rare in the US. It is most likely to occur during periods of rapid growth, when the body demands high levels of calcium and phosphate. Vitamin D helps the body properly control calcium and phosphate levels in the body. When the body is deficient in vitamin D, it is unable to properly control calcium and phosphate levels. Rickets may be seen in young children 6 to 24 months old and is uncommon in newborns. There is a form of genetic rickets called X-Linked Hypophosphatemia. This condition is characterised by the symptoms of rickets and by low phosphorus in the blood, associated with high phosphate levels passed in the urine. A person with rickets may have severely bowed legs, deformation of the spine, chest and pelvis, bones that break easily and severely stunted growth.

Rickets and osteomalacia are two forms of a metabolic bone disease resulting from vitamin D deficiency. It is characterised by soft and weakened bones caused by a lack of vitamin D, calcium or phosphorus. Healthy bones need calcium and phosphorus, and vitamin D helps to absorb these minerals from the foods we eat. Nutritional sources of vitamin D include dairy foods, eggs and green vegetables. The skin is also able to synthesize vitamin D on exposure to the ultraviolet radiation in sunlight. Hereditary rickets is caused by an inherted defect which prevents the kidney from retaining phosphate. Rickets can also be caused by some other kidney and liver diseases. Rickets causes bone pain, slowed growth in children, dental problems, muscle loss and increased risk of fractures. The classic image of advanced rickets sufferers is of bow legs and a deformed chest and skull. Treatment involves increasing dietary intake of calcium, phosphate and vitamin D.

Causes of Rickets

The common causes and risk factor's of Rickets include the following :

• Lack of vitamin D, calcium, or phosphate, which leads to softening and weakening of the bones.
• Lactose intolerance with inadequate intake of vitamin D-fortified milk.
• Disorders of the liver.
• Family histor

Symptom of Rickets

Bones affected by rickets do not grow properly, and bend and bow when weight is put on them. Infants with rickets have deformed skulls with late-closing fontanelles (the soft spots in a baby's skull), knobby enlargements where the ribs join the breastbone, and delayed sitting ana crawling. Older children are slow to start walking. Enlargements can be seen at the ends of long bones and, when walking begins, body weight causes bowing of the legs, flattening and distortion of the pelvis, and abnormal curvature of the spine. Some common Symptoms of Rickets :

• Muscle cramps.
• Progressive weakness.
• Delayed formation of teeth.
• Increased tendency toward bone fractures.
• Impaired growth.
• Fever or restlessness, especially at night.
• Pain in the bones of Arms, Legs, Spine, Pelvis.
• Short stature (adults less than 5 feet tall) .

Diagnosis and Treatment of Rickets

Rickets is diagnosed on the symptoms and signs, and the results of x-rays and blood tests. Patients are then given adequate calcium and phosphorus in the diet, plus IVitamin D supplements, until normal bone formation is restored.

• Improved diet that includes plenty of calcium and vitamin D.
• Chemically changed forms of vitamin D supplements for people whose bodies can't convert vitamin D into its active form.
• Vitamin and mineral supplements.
• Surgery to correct skeletal deformities in severe cases.
• Increased exposure to sunlight, such as 15 minutes three times per week.