Posts Tagged ‘disease’

The Treatment Of Rickets Disease

Rickets is a disease of growing bone:

that is unique to children and adolescents. It is caused by a failure of osteoid to calcify in a growing person. Failure of osteoid to calcify in adults is called osteomalacia. Vitamin D deficiency rickets occurs when the metabolites of vitamin D are deficient. Less commonly, a dietary deficiency of calcium or phosphorus may also produce rickets. Vitamin D-3 (cholecalciferol) is formed in the skin from a derivative of cholesterol under the stimulus of ultraviolet-B light. Ultraviolet light or cod liver oil was the only significant source of vitamin D until early in the 20th century when ergosterol (vitamin D-2) was synthesized from irradiated plant steroids.During the Industrial Revolution, rickets appeared in epidemic form in temperate zones where the pollution from factories blocked the sun’s ultraviolet rays. Thus, rickets was probably the first childhood disease caused by environmental pollution.Natural nutritional sources of vitamin D are limited primarily to fatty, ocean-going fish. In the United States, dairy milk is fortified with vitamin D (400 IU/L) Human milk contains little vitamin D, generally less than 20-40 IU/L. Therefore, infants who are breastfed are at risk for rickets, especially those who receive no oral supplementation and those who have darkly pigmented skin, which blocks penetration of ultraviolet light.

Causes Of Rickets Treatment:

The disease, caused by low levels of vitamin D generated in the body from sunshine and certain foods, had died out around 80 years ago but is now coming back.Cases of rickets in children have occurred in northern England and Scotland where there are fewer months of the year with sufficient sunshine to obtain enough vitamin D but now doctors are seeing it on the South coast as well. Rickets is a disorder that affects the bones, causing them to soften and break easily. It is most common in children. A lack of vitamin D is the cause of most cases of rickets, but this disorder can also run in families. Vitamin D helps the bones absorb calcium and phosphorus from food. When your child does not get enough vitamin D, his or her bones do not get the necessary nutrients that make bones strong.Rickets is a disorder caused by a lack of vitamin D, calcium, or phosphate. It leads to softening and weakening of the bones.Rickets – the disease which was the scourge of Victorian Britain – is affecting one in five children, many of them from the middle classes, claim doctors.More than 20 per cent of children from all social classes who were checked for bone problems showed signs of the disease.Consultant orthopaedic surgeon Professor Nicholas Clarke, who works in Southampton, said rickets was making a comeback not only among poorer people, who were traditionally affected, but also the better off.

Treatment Of  Rickets Treatment:

The goals of treatment are to relieve symptoms and correct the cause of the condition. The cause must be treated to prevent the disease from returning.
Replacing calcium, phosphorus, or vitamin D that is lacking will eliminate most symptoms of rickets. Dietary sources of vitamin D include fish, liver, and processed milk. Exposure to moderate amounts of sunlight is encouraged. If rickets is caused by a metabolic problem, a prescription for vitamin D supplements may be needed.Positioning or bracing may be used to reduce or prevent deformities. Some skeletal deformities may require corrective surgery.Rickets is initially diagnosed clinically with a complete medical and nutritional history and with a complete physical exam by a health professional. If rickets is suspected in a child and the child has no acute symptoms such as seizures or tetany, X-rays of long bones (radius, ulna, and femur) and ribs are obtained.Vitamin D levels, alkaline phosphatase, parathyroid hormone (hormone involved in calcium and phosphate control), and electrolytes, including indirect measurements of kidney function (BUN and creatinine), should be evaluated if the X-rays show any of the following characteristics that are consistent with rickets.You can prevent rickets by making sure that your child gets enough calcium, phosphorus, and vitamin D in the diet. People who have gastrointestinal or other disorders may need to take supplements. Ask your child’s health care provider.