Disease of growing bone: Rickets

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

Vitamin K

Vitamin K
Vitamin K is needed for the production of prothrombin which is necessary for blood clotting. It is also essential for bone formation and repair; it is necessary for the synthesis of osteocalcin, the protein in bone tissue on which calcium crystallizes. Consequently, it may help prevent osteoporosis.

Vitamin k plays important role in the intestine and aids in converting glucose into glycogen for storage in the liver, promoting healthy liver function. It may increase resistance to infection in children and help prevent cancers that target the inner linings of the organs. It aids in promoting longevity. A deficiency of this vitamin can cause abnormal and/or internal bleeding.

These are three forms of vitamin K. The first is vitamin K1 (phylloquinone or phytonadione), which comes from plants and makes up your dietary vitamin K. The second is vitamin K2, a family of substances called bacteria and also found in butter, cow liver, chicken, egg yolks, fermented soybean products, and some cheese. Third, there is vitamin K3 (menadione), which is synthetic, man made substance.

Vitamin K deficiency can be caused by any of the following:

• A poor diet
• Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis
• Liver disease that interferes vitamin K storage
• The use of antibiotics, cholesterol-lowering drugs, mineral oil, aspirin and blood thinners
  

Low blood levels of vitamin K are associated with insulin release and glucose regulation problems, and may lead to low bone density in women. Supplementing the diet with this vitamin enhances then bone building process by attracting calcium to the bone. Supplemental vitamin K also reduces the amount of calcium in the urine and frees up more calcium to be used by the bone-building process.
Vitamin K