Rickets: the main symptoms, treatment

One of the most dangerous diseases to which children are exposed is rickets. It arises because of a metabolic disorder, most often phosphate-calcium. The consequences are very sad - the skeleton is affected.

A child who becomes ill with rickets becomes weakened, which means that he is prone to disease. This can be frequent pneumonia, violations of the cardiovascular system, digestive organs. Especially dangerous rickets for girls - the pelvis, which is affected by the disease, creates many problems during childbirth.
It is believed that most often the disease occurs due to hypovitaminosis D, and it does not depend on the origin - exogenous or endogenous. The first is due to a lack of vitamin D - it enters the body with food.
However, sometimes this is due to chronic diseases of organs or due to a violation of the processes of synthesizing vitamin D3 at the genetic level. For example, the compounds of phosphorus and calcium are poorly absorbed by the intestine, a large number of them are excreted in the urine, a disruption in utilization occurs in the bone tissue. Another reason is that the activity of the receptors with respect to vitamin D3 is disrupted or completely absent.

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In addition, there are factors that contribute to the development of rickets in the baby. One of the main ones is the transfer to artificial feeding. Neither cow's milk nor nutrient mixtures will replace the mother's milk, in which the necessary proportions of calcium and phosphorus are clearly observed. Affects the deficit of ionized calcium.
Because of the increased demand for vitamin D3, preterm infants are particularly susceptible to the disease. And of course, poor care for a child can also lead to such unpleasant consequences as a deficiency of ionized calcium. Symptoms and signs of rickets.

When to sound an alarm, what signs characterize the disease of rickets? The main symptoms that determine the first degree( considered light) can be seen from the neuromuscular manifestations, and the changes in the bones, although still minimal, can be noticed: they are craniotubes, a flatter occiput and a slight proliferation of osteoid tissue in growth zones.
At the second degree, deformations of the skull, thorax and limbs are added to all the named changes. They, in contrast to small changes in internal organs, are clearly visible.
Rickets, passed into the third stage( severe) - the disease is very dangerous. Obviously, the changes to which the bones and muscles have been exposed, the joint-ligament apparatus is loose, the static and locomotor functions are delayed in development. Seriousness and violations in the internal organs, they cause acidosis and microcirculation disorders.

Relapses and treatment of rickets.

The disease can occur in many ways. If this is an acute course, when the child has chronic rickets, the main symptoms, treatment is investigated and carried out immediately. Symptoms are growing rapidly, clearly disorders of the nervous and autonomic systems, hypophosphatemia is present, the level of alkaline phosphatase is high, the process of osteomalacia is clearly seen. Most often, such processes are observed in children who are not properly nourished - nutrition is mainly carbohydrate, if they grow rapidly and significantly increase in weight, and receive less than the required amount of vitamin D. If the acid-base state - acidosis is disturbed, it also contributes to the acute course of the disease.
If the disease is in the so-called subacute version, the doctor will see( although they are hardly noticeable) disorders of the neurological and vegetative systems, small biochemical changes, and that the processes of osteoid hyperplasia have become prevalent. This form of perforation is usually inherent in children who have been rickets prevented, had breastfeeding or were fed dry milk mixtures with normal vitamin D.
Relapse means that the disease is in the period of exacerbation, then the process of subsidence, but the residual effects persist. If you perform X-ray, then in the growth zones will be visible bands with calcifications in metaphases.
Relapses occur against the background of insufficient care for the child, with incorrect feeding, if secondary prevention of rickets is not observed, there are permanent colds, pneumonia or intestinal disorders.
It should be noted that if you follow all the doctor's instructions for the prevention of rickets, use adapted mixtures saturated with vitamin D, then the disease in the third stage will never affect the child.
If rickets are still found, then treatment is only complex. This is a serious and long-lasting process whose goal is to eliminate the causes of the disease and eliminate hypovitaminosis D.
Treatment is carried out by ultraviolet radiation and the introduction of vitamin D preparations. It is usually recommended that a calm regime be avoided, noisy noise, bright light and other irritants. The child is desirable to be as much as possible in the open air, useful movements, baths, wipes. Therefore, as symptoms are severely expressed, treatment should be performed according to the observations of the attending physician.

Diets for rickets

If symptoms appear on the ground of malnutrition, then compliance with the correct diet is mandatory. It is made according to the age and needs of the child, if necessary, is corrected. For example, if the child's age is 3-4 months, the mother feeds him with the breast, then as a drink they give broths from vegetables and fruits, juices, and curds and yolks are introduced into the diet earlier than other children recommend.
If the feeding is mixed or artificial, the amount of milk, kefir and porridge is limited, they are replaced with vegetables. Calcium deficiency with such feeding does not arise, because it is enough in cow's milk. Obligatory intake of vitamin C and group B( B1 B2, B6) - reduces acidosis, processes are activated that promote the formation of bone mass, and increases the effectiveness of general treatment.
A salted and coniferous bath will help balance the nervous and autonomic systems - relieve tension, stimulate metabolic processes.
Treatment is prescribed, given the nature of the disease, the main symptoms and the stage in which it is located. Ultraviolet irradiation is preferred at an early stage, sometimes subacute, is performed daily, begins with a minimal dose, which is gradually increased.