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Rickets is a disease that is most often diagnosed in infants and children from 3 months to 2 years of age. The most vulnerable to rickets are children who have little contact with the sun, under the influence of which the body produces vitamin D - a substance that mainly determines the condition of bones and teeth. What other causes of rickets could be? How to recognize its symptoms? What is the treatment?

Rickets , or English disease, is a childhood disease, the essence of which is disturbances in bone growth and bone deformation. It is most often diagnosed in children between 3 months and 2 years of age.

Rickets in infants and children - causes

The most common cause of rickets is vitamin D deficiency - caused by both poor diet and insufficient exposure to the sun - and the associated calcium and phosphorus disorders. Vitamin D facilitates the absorption of calcium and phosphorus - two elements that are the building blocks of teeth and bones, and reduces their excretion with urine.

In adults, a reduction in bone mineralization due to disturbances in calcium and phosphate metabolism is called osteomalacia.

In the case of its deficiency or lack, there is a reduced absorption of calcium and phosphorus from the digestive system and their increased excretion in the urine, which results in insufficient bone mineralization, its softening and deformation.

Rickets due to vitamin D deficiency are not only children whose diets are low in this substance and who come from areas where access to sunlight is difficult. Rickets may also occur in premature babies and babies from twins because they have a low supply of vitamin D from the fetal period.

GOOD TO KNOW>>Food sources of vitamin D

Other possible causes of rickets could be:

  • calcium deficiency - it causes the absorption of this element from the skeletal system, leading to rapid bone decalcification in the child;
  • excess of phosphates in the diet - they inhibit the absorption of calcium, most often in infants who are given an excess of whole cow's milk;
  • metabolic defects - e.g. insensitivity to vitamin D, disordersfat absorption;
  • Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis - people with these diseases have less vitamin D in the body;

Rickets - symptoms in infants and children

Skeletal symptoms:

  • very slow growth of fontanel;
  • frontal bumps;
  • flattening the skull;
  • delayed eruption of teeth followed by their incorrect education;
  • too small chest circumference and its deformities;
  • arched leg bones, giving the impression that they are bending under the weight of the body;
  • knees excessively spaced outwards (taking the shape of the letter "O") or inwards (forming an "X");
  • so-called curved hump - curvature of the spine in the lumbar region;
  • deformation of the pelvic bones;
  • flat feet;
  • so-called rickets bracelets - thickening of epiphyses of long bones;

Moreover, children suffering from rickets are apathetic, have problems with constipation, and suffer from excessive sweating. They show reduced muscle tension (so-called spilled tummy) and symptoms of tetany.

Rickets in infants and children - diagnosis

In order to diagnose rickets, blood tests and an X-ray of the bone are performed.

Rickets in infants and children - treatment

Treatment of rickets consists in giving the child vitamin D3 in appropriate doses determined by the doctor. During therapy, you should ensure that your diet does not run out of fats, as they are essential for the absorption of vitamin D. You have to wait even several months for the effects of therapy.

Rickets in infants and children - how to prevent it?

First of all, you should provide vitamin D in the right doses. Until the end of the 6th month of life, infants should receive 400 IU of vitamin D / day (10.0 µg / day). In turn, from the 7th month to the 12th month of life, this requirement is 400-600 IU / day (10.0-15.0 µg / day). From the necklace, children from 1 to 18 years of age need 600-1000 IU of vitamin D / day (15.0-25.0 µg / day).

Other doses have been established for premature babies (400-800 IU / day, i.e. 10.0-20.0 µg / day) and those with obesity (1200-2000 IU / day, i.e. 30.0 -50.0 µg / day) who need more vitamin D.

CHECK>>Vitamin D - dosage for infants, children and adults. Vitamin D intake standards

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Child's he alth