Rickets is a very widespread, unfortunately, common disease in young children of the first 2 years of life. This disease is known for a long time - even in the writings of Galen and Soran of Ephesus. Rickets are found everywhere, but most often - among residents of those northern countries where there is a shortage of such needed sunlight. Children born in winter suffer from rickets harder and more often.
What is rickets?
Rickets is a disease of the body (general) that manifests itself as a peculiar change in bone tissue. It is due to a temporary mismatch in the needs of the body, which is growing, in phosphorus and calcium and the lack of systems that ensure their delivery to the imperfect organism of the child. Rickets is a manifestation of metabolic disorders with a bias in metabolic disorders of phosphorus and calcium, which is characterized by changes in existing processes of free radical lipid peroxidation (peroxide (peroxide) oxidation of lipids), the metabolism of trace elements, proteins.
Vitamin D3 with rickets enters the body in insufficient quantities, its formation in the skin is noticeably disturbed, phosphorus-calcium metabolism in the liver and kidneys malfunctions. Most often, rickets develop in infants born either from mothers under the age of 17, or from women older than 35. An unbalanced diet of pregnant women is very important, in which a deficiency of calcium, phosphorus, protein, vitamins D and B1, B2, B6 develops. Often, rickets develops in a child whose mother during pregnancy did not stay in the sun enough, led a sedentary life, suffered from extragenital diseases.
Often there is rickets in a child born with signs of morphofunctional immaturity, a baby from twins, premature or too large at birth. Often rickets occurs in children with a sharp weight gain in the first months of their life. This disease also lends itself to babies who are from birth on artificial feeding with kefir and cow's milk. The development of rickets also contributes to a small motor regime.
Rickets is not just a disease, but really a social and medical problem. After all, the incidence of children is directly related to the quality of their life and the lives of their parents. Also, rickets is the cause of the development of many other concomitant diseases in the baby. Among the severe and terrible consequences of rickets are osteomalacia, osteoporosis, poor posture, myelofibrosis, multiple caries of all teeth, anemia. Often, gastrointestinal motility disorders develop in the form of ordinary constipation, dyskinesia of the duodenum and biliary tract.
Classification of Rickets
There are 3 degrees of rickets.
1 severity - disorders of the autonomic system and central nervous system: the child becomes shy, irritable, restless, sweats, often starts, the vascular system turns into a reactive one.
Severity 2 — pronounced changes on the part of the skeletal system: tubercles on the crown, rickety “rosary” (only on 5–8 ribs) are formed, and the chest is deformed. Pronounced muscle hypotension and the frog stomach are observed.
Grade 3 - the bones at the base of the skull soften, sunken nose, “Olympic forehead”, exophthalmos, coarse deformity of almost the entire chest, spinal deformity gradually appear, epiphyses of the forearm bones and phalanxes thicken . Deformation of the lower extremities (namely, tubular bones) occurs . The time of standard appearance and the order of ordinary teething are disrupted.
How to treat rickets?
If a child has rickets, the following treatment measures are provided:
- restoration of underdeveloped phosphorus-calcium exchanges;
- elimination of metabolic acidosis ;
- normalization of LPO processes;
- elimination of deficiency of the missing vitamin D.
Also important:
- the correct organization of the child’s regime: stay in the fresh air for at least 2-3 hours daily, a room for the child with regular airing;
- adapted nutrition;
- exercise therapy, bathing (hygienic), dousing, massage, rubbing;
- drug therapy.
Rickets in a child is quite difficult for parents. Therefore, in order for the baby to grow up healthy, it is necessary to use all known methods for the prevention of rickets in time. Particular attention should be paid to physical development and hardening. In addition to the usual walks in the air and tempering water procedures, massage and therapeutic exercises are of great importance, which should be carried out regularly, systematically, for a long time, with uniform and gradual increases in loads.
It should be remembered that rickets in children, like rickets in dogs, occur due to a deficiency of vitamin D. Therefore, it is important that the first and second foods have enough calcium. The "dog" rickets differs from the human one in that each compaction, curvature, thickening of the bones in small dogs is considered rickets. But true is quite rare. It is recommended to give dogs special food with a lot of minerals and calcium. This is exactly what is needed to stabilize bone growth. But if rickets is very pronounced, you must definitely consult a specialist.