Rickets is associated with malnutrition.
Rickets is the name given to a disease caused by a lack of vitamin D in nutrition. This generates problems when metabolizing calcium , an issue that leads to the person's weakness and bone deformations.
The low level of calcium and other minerals in the blood flow leads to a disorder in the mineralization of cartilage and bones since the hormones, to increase the level in the blood, will release the minerals that were present in the bone components.
Rickets in children
Rickets usually affects children over six months and under two years, as this is the stage in which the body needs a greater amount of calcium. This disease usually develops in poor countries , where nutritional needs are more difficult to meet.
If a child, due to socioeconomic reasons, does not have access to products such as fresh vegetables, he or she may suffer from rickets. The disease is evidenced by bone problems (with obvious deformities such as bowed legs, an atypical skull and a deviated spine), deficiencies in the teeth, loss of muscle tone and reduced height. The patient may suffer various pains, frequent cramps and a persistent feeling of weakness .
A calcium level test and various x-rays can allow a doctor to diagnose rickets. The treatment of the disease is based on a diet with a strong presence of vitamin D (which is found in a wide variety of foods) and may also include the indication of taking moderate doses of sunlight.
The sun's rays help the synthesis of vitamin D.
The causes
Among the factors that can influence the skin to produce insufficient amounts of vitamin D are the following: living in climates that do not provide sufficient exposure to sunlight throughout the year; having the obligation to be indoors during the brightest hours of the day; eating an inadequate diet, something that usually happens due to misinformation.
It is worth mentioning that breast milk does not always provide infants with the necessary levels of vitamin D , so its exclusive use in food can be another cause of rickets. Furthermore, dark-skinned children born in cold months may suffer even more from a shortage of this vitamin , due to little exposure to sunlight.
There is a false idea that the vegetarian diet is responsible for poor nutrition, something that can be disproved simply by observing any person who has been vegan since birth and who enjoys impeccable health , but which dozens of specialists also strive to disqualify. through studies that question the benefits of products of animal origin, such as meat and milk .
Anyway, in addition to diet and exposure to sunlight, rickets can arise from genetic reasons; One of the forms of this disorder is precisely called hereditary rickets , and it is transmitted by people to their children when their kidneys cannot complete the retention of the mineral phosphorus.
Symptoms of rickets
Let's look at some of the symptoms of rickets:
- Tenderness or pain in the spine, pelvis, legs, or arms.
- Deformities in the teeth, which include late tooth formation, gaps in the enamel and a large presence of cavities.
- Ease of suffering bone fractures.
- Short stature in adulthood (this can be seen taking into account the normal parameters of each country).
- Muscle cramps, that is, involuntary tension of a muscle and difficulty relaxing it.