Rickets (Vitamin D Deficiency)

Signs and Symptoms of Rickets

Signs and Symptoms of Rickets

Signs and Symptoms of Rickets May Include the Following:

• Baby is 'floppy.'
• Bone pain.
• Bone tenderness.
• Bones break easily.
• Costochondral swelling - prominent knobs on the bone between the ribs and the breast plate.
• Harrison's groove - a horizontal line visible on the chest, where the diaphragm attaches to the ribs.
• Low calcium blood levels (hypcalcemia).
• Older children may have knock knees (genu valgum).
• Soft skull (craniotabes).
• Low physical growth (height and weight) may be affected.
• There may be spinal, pelvic, or cranial deformities.
• Toddlers may have bowed legs (genu varum).
• Uncontrolled muscle spasms, which may affect the entire body (tetany).
• Widening wrists.

Symptoms vary in severity and may be intermittent.

Causes of Rickets

Causes of Rickets

There are several causes of rickets, including:

Lack of vitamin D

Our bodies need vitamin D in order to absorb calcium from the intestines. Ultraviolet light (from sunlight) helps our skin cells convert vitamin D from an inactive to an active state.

If we do not have enough vitamin D, calcium that we get from the food we eat is not absorbed properly, causing hypocalcemia (low levels of calcium in the blood).

Hypocalcemia results in deformities of bones and teeth, as well as neuromuscular (nerve and muscle) problems.

Adding vitamin D to a diet is relatively simple. The following foods are rich in vitamin D:

• eggs
• fish oils
• butter
• some fortified milk
• some oily fishes, including mackerel and salmon
• some soy milk products have vitamin D added

Vitamin D deficiency can easily be improved with small dietary changes, which makes the most common cause of rickets the most easily avoidable.

Diagnosis and Traditional Medical Treatment Options

How is Rickets Diagnosed?

The diagnosis of rickets is achieved in the following ways:

• Blood tests- measures levels of calcium and phosphorus. Levels of alkaline phosphatase may also be high.
• Arterial blood gases- checks how acidic the blood is.
• X-rays- these may reveal calcium loss in bones, or alterations in the structure or shape of the bones.
• Bone biopsy- this can confirm rickets (rarely used).

Physical symptoms of rickets, such as bowed legs or a soft skull, will also be checked; however, these are not reliable enough to use on their own.

Genetic defect

Hypophosphatemic rickets is a rare genetic fault that prevents the kidneys from processing phosphates properly. Low levels of phosphate in the blood lead to weak and soft bones.

Some diseases

Some kidney, liver, and intestinal diseases can interfere with the way the body absorbs and metabolizes minerals and vitamins, resulting in rickets.

Risk Factors and Complications of Rickets

Risk Factors for Rickets Include:

• Poverty- rickets is more likely to occur among children who are poor because access to adequate nutrition may be limited.
• Sunlight- children who do not get enough sunlight are more dependent on good nutrition to make sure they are getting enough vitamin D.
• Malnutrition- rickets is more common in areas of the world where severe droughts and starvation occur.

Complications of Rickets Can Occur:

• If left untreated, a child with rickets is more prone to fracturesof the bone. If the rickets is severe and prolonged, there may be permanent bone deformities.
• Severely low blood calcium levels can lead to cramps, seizures, and breathing problems.
• Heart muscle weakness - this complication is rare.

Medicines Two Choices

Treating Rickets

Simply, treatment focuses on increasing the patient's intake of calcium, phosphates, and vitamin D. This may involve exposure to sunlight, consuming fish oils, and ergocalciferol or cholecalficerol (forms of Vitamin D).

Exposure to ultraviolet B light and consuming calcium and phosphorus is usually enough to reverse or prevent rickets.

If rickets is caused by bad diet, the patient should be given daily calcium and vitamin D supplements, an annual vitamin D injection, as well as being encouraged to eat vitamin D rich foods.

Treating genetic rickets - the patient will be prescribed phosphorus medications and active vitamin D hormones.

Other medical conditions - if rickets has an underlying medical cause, such as kidney disease, that disease needs to be treated and controlled.

Dr. Huntoon's Alternative Medical Treatment Options

Alternative treatment and Hope

Treatment

Rickets comes from not getting enough vitamin D, which is ironic for the simple fact that we all get vitamin D from spending time in the sun and exposing our skin.  It is the ONLY vitamin source that is provided for FREE and we simply need to go outside and spend time in the sun.  Except, we have been lead to believe, through the media and from medical sources, that spending time in the sun is bad for us.  Your medical doctor will want you to wear sunscreen. They will tell you that too much sun can boost your chance of skin cancer.

What current research has shown is that not having enough vitamin D in your body is a contributor to developing cancer.  And if your skin does not produce enough vitamin D naturally, you may be at an increased risk of developing skin cancer.  And isn't it ironic that when we started using sunscreen regularly, the increase in skin cancer began to develop as a health concern.  Something to think about.  

If your body has trouble absorbing vitamin D, your Holistic Chiropractor will need to treat the cause, if possible. Many times it is due to the developing of a vitamin D allergy, which here at the office is quite easy to remedy, thus allowing a person to no longer have a vitamin D allergy. 

A person can also develop an allergy to the sun.  Addressing this is also quite easy when working with a Holistic Chiropractor who understands to check for it and has a remedy for eliminating the allergy.

You’ll also need to take larger doses of calcium and vitamin D than the normal daily recommendation.

To treat broken or deformed bones from rickets, your doctor may give you a brace to wear. If the problem is severe, you may need surgery.

Vitamin D Dietary Sources

You can treat it by getting more of it in your diet through certain foods and supplements.

Foods with vitamin D include:

• Cheese
• Eggs
• Fish (tuna, salmon, swordfish, sardines)
• Liver
• Milk (Whole milk)
• Yogurt

As already stated, you also can get more vitamin D by spending time in the sun.  

How Can Rickets Be Prevented?

Prevention of Rickets

Getting adequate sunlight is an important way to prevent rickets.

Estimating the exact vitamin D needs of each human is very difficult, because it is hard to measure how much of the vitamin is synthesized in the skin via sunlight.

In countries that are not near the tropics and sunlight intensity is lower, it is important to provide a supplementary intake of vitamin D to prevent rickets.

This may involve:

• enriching milk, baby foods, and some other food products
• the administration of a daily vitamin D supplement
• massive doses of vitamin D when it is impossible for socioeconomic reasons to provide a vitamin supplement

In areas with a lot of sunlight, the best way to prevent rickets is to expose the child to the sun.

While exposure to sunlight is a good source of vitamin D, it is important not to overdo it - excess sunlight exposure can lead to sunburn and may, in some people, eventually skin cancer.

Your Solution

Alternative treatment and Hope

Rickets comes from not getting enough vitamin D, which is ironic for the simple fact that we all get vitamin D from spending time in the sun and exposing our skin.  It is the ONLY vitamin source that is provided for FREE and we simply need to go outside and spend time in the sun.  Except, we have been lead to believe, through the media and from medical sources, that spending time in the sun is bad for us.  Your medical doctor will want you to wear sunscreen. They will tell you that too much sun can boost your chance of skin cancer.

What current research has shown is that not having enough vitamin D in your body is a contributor to developing cancer.  And if your skin does not produce enough vitamin D naturally, you may be at an increased risk of developing skin cancer.  And isn't it ironic that when we started using sunscreen regularly, the increase in skin cancer began to develop as a health concern.  Something to think about.  

If your body has trouble absorbing vitamin D, your Holistic Chiropractor will need to treat the cause, if possible. Many times it is due to the developing of a vitamin D allergy, which here at the office is quite easy to remedy, thus allowing a person to no longer have a vitamin D allergy. 

A person can also develop an allergy to the sun.  Addressing this is also quite easy when working with a Holistic Chiropractor who understands to check for it and has a remedy for eliminating the allergy.

You’ll also need to take larger doses of calcium and vitamin D than the normal daily recommendation.

To treat broken or deformed bones from rickets, your doctor may give you a brace to wear. If the problem is severe, you may need surgery.

Vitamin D Dietary Sources

You can treat it by getting more of it in your diet through certain foods and supplements.

Foods with vitamin D include:

• Cheese
• Eggs
• Fish (tuna, salmon, swordfish, sardines)
• Liver
• Milk  (Whole Milk)
• Yogurt

As already stated, you also can get more vitamin D by spending time in the sun.  Please take the time to do that every day.