Rickets

4 Pages 920 Words

Rickets is disorder involving softening and weakening of the bones of
children, primarily caused by lack of vitamin D and lack of calcium or phosphate. Alternative names to rickets are: osteomalacia in children; deficiency - vitamin D;
renal osteodystrophy; pediatric osteomalacia; vitamin D deficiency; renal rickets. Rickets is a disorder caused by insufficiency or inefficient action of activated
vitamin D in the body during childhood. Vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin that they may be absorbed from the intestines or may be produced by the skin when the skin is exposed to ultraviolet light (particularly sunlight). It is converted to its active form, by the body, in two steps,occurring first in the liver and completed in the kidneys. In its active form, vitamin D acts as a hormone to regulate calcium absorption from the intestine and to regulate levels of calcium and phosphate in the bones. Active vitamin D is assisted by the actions of other body hormones. Because vitamin D is fat soluble, conditions that reduce digestion or absorption of fats will decrease the ability of vitamin D to be absorbed from the intestines. Sunlight is important to skin production of vitamin D, and environmental
conditions where sunlight exposure is limited may reduce this source of vitamin
D. Lack of vitamin D production by the skin may occur with indoor confinement or working indoors during the daylight hours, or it may occur in climates with little exposure to sunlight. When the body is deficient in vitamin D, it is unable to properly regulate calcium and phosphate levels. If the blood levels of these
minerals becomes low, the other body hormones may stimulate release of
calcium and phosphate from the bones to the bloodstream. Rickets is a bone disease of children. It causes progressive softening and weakening of the bone structure. There is a loss of calcium and phosphate from the bone, which eventually causes destruction of the supportive matrix. ...