Rickets
is a disease that affects bone structure, resulting in soft and weakened bones
and is particularly damaging to the weight-bearing bones in the legs, spine,
and pelvis. A similar disease process occurs in adults and is known as
osteomalacia, or simply soft bones.
It is characterized
by malformed and weak bones because of poor calcium and phosphorous deposition.
Rickets
is more likely to occur in children eating a poor diet and living in northern countries,
where there is less sunshine. Vitamin D allows the body to absorb calcium from
food and makes sure that the calcium is passed from the blood into the bone
when the bone is being formed.
Defective
mineralization of both bones and cartilaginous material in the epiphyseal growth
plate becomes apparent as the child grows.
In rare
cases, there may be rickets of urinary origin, where there are excessive
urinary losses of either calcium or phosphorus. Vitamin D-resistant rickets is,
in most cases, a genetic disorder where excessive phosphate is lost in the
urine which reduces the supply available for mineralization of bone.
Rickets
was first identified in Europe in the 1600s when the lack of sunlight and meager,
unbalanced diet available to working class city dwellers cause an epidemic of
rickets until the early 1900s.
Disease
of growing bone: Rickets
