Rickets News and Research

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Rickets is a condition that causes children to have soft, weak bones. It usually occurs when children do not get enough vitamin D, which helps growing bones absorb important nutrients. Vitamin D comes from sunlight and food. Skin produces vitamin D in response to the sun's rays. Some foods also contain vitamin D, including fortified dairy products and cereals, and some kinds of fish.

Sigma-Tau Pharmaceuticals recognized as a rare disease pioneer

Sigma-Tau Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced today that the Company was recognized last evening as a rare disease pioneer at the 30th anniversary celebration of The National Organization for Rare Disorders.

15 May 2013

800 IU of vitamin D3 per day is recommended for preterm infants, says study

Preterm infants may need to be given 800 international units (IU) of vitamin D a day to ensure they develop strong bones, according to a study to be presented Sunday, May 5, at the Pediatric Academic Societies (PAS) annual meeting in Washington, DC.

6 May 2013

Vitamin D improves muscle function, boosts energy levels

Vitamin D is vital for making our muscles work efficiently and boosting energy levels, new research from Newcastle University has shown.

7 Apr 2013

Maternal vitamin D levels not found to affect children’s bone health

A study of nearly 4000 pairs of mothers and their children in the Children of the 90s study at the University of Bristol has shown that maternal vitamin D levels during pregnancy are not associated with the child’s bone health in later life. The research, published Online First in The Lancet, is the largest ever observational study of the effects of mothers’ vitamin D levels in pregnancy on their children’s bone health, and suggests that UK health guidelines may be overstating the importance of vitamin D supplementation in pregnancy.

20 Mar 2013

Excess of vitamin D during pregnancy can increase risk of food allergy in children

Pregnant women should avoid taking vitamin D supplements. Substitution appears to raise the risk of children developing a food allergy after birth.

28 Feb 2013

Osteopontin plays a role in X-linked hypophosphatemia

Diagnosed in toddlers, X-linked hypophosphatemia (XLH) is the most common form of heritable rickets, in which soft bones bend and deform, and tooth abscesses develop because infections penetrate soft teeth that are not properly calcified. Researchers at McGill University and the Federal University of Sao Paulo have identified that osteopontin, a major bone and tooth substrate protein, plays a role in XLH. Their discovery may pave the way to effectively treating this rare disease.

21 Feb 2013

African-American and Caucasian women absorb, metabolize vitamin D at same rate

African-American women battling vitamin D deficiencies need the same dose as Caucasian women to treat the condition, according to a recent study accepted for publication in The Endocrine Society's Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (JCEM).

13 Feb 2013

Researchers to fortify milk with heart healthy omega-3 fatty acids

Not everyone has a taste for fish, even though it is a natural source of heart-healthy omega-3 fatty acids. And while a growing number of omega-3 enriched foods may net health benefits for people who resist the lure of salmon or sashimi, milk remains the product that has gotten away in what has become a billion-dollar health industry.

1 Dec 2012

What are vitamins?

Most people have heard of vitamin C and its effects upon the body; but how much do you know about other vitamins? How many even are there? And what do they all do?

8 Jun 2012

Tiny Tim may have suffered from rickets and TB

Le Bonheur Professor Russell Chesney, M.D. believes he knows what was ailing Tiny Tim, the iconic character from Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol." Based on detailed descriptions of both the symptoms and living conditions of 18th century London, Dr. Chesney hypothesizes that Tiny Tim suffered from a combination of rickets and tuberculosis (TB).

17 Mar 2012

Swaddling babies tight could lead to hip problems

Swaddling babies is back in vogue as many mothers are convinced that wrapping babies tightly makes them feel more secure. However a children's surgeon at Southampton General Hospital has warned that the practice of tight swaddling, where both the arms and legs are wrapped up, is causing an increase in hip problems.

13 Mar 2012

Doctors identify promising new treatment for hypophosphatasia

Doctors at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, working with Shriners Hospital for Children and other institutions, have identified a promising new treatment for a rare and sometimes life-threatening bone disorder that can affect infants and young children.

8 Mar 2012

Pediatricians should screen all children for vitamin D deficiency

As study after study shows the fundamental role vitamin D plays in disease and health, vitamin D deficiency — which often develops insidiously in childhood — should be on every parent's and pediatrician's radar, say physicians from the Johns Hopkins Children's Center.

23 Feb 2012

Kids not getting enough Vitamin D

According to Dame Sally Davies, Chief Medical Officer (CMO) for England, young children and some adults are not getting enough vitamin D. Not receiving enough of the vitamin can lead to health problems including rickets, broken bones, muscle weakness and infections including TB. Research last year suggested that a quarter of Britain's toddlers did not have enough vitamin D in their bloodstreams.

24 Jan 2012

Experts recommend vitamin D supplementation for menopausal women

A group of experts has prepared a report on vitamin D supplementation for menopausal women after it was revealed that Europeans have suffered an alarming decrease in their levels of this vitamin. In their opinion, the ideal would be to maintain blood levels above 30 ng/ml. Vitamin D is essential to the immune system and processes such as calcium absorption.

11 Jan 2012

FDA clears Abbott's new ARCHITECT 25-OH Vitamin D assay

Abbott announced today it has received clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for a fully-automated 25-OH Vitamin D assay performed on its widely used ARCHITECT laboratory testing platform.

30 Nov 2011

Avoiding sun may increase risk of vitamin D deficiency in light-skinned people

Light-skinned people who avoid the sun are twice as likely to suffer from vitamin D deficiency as those who do not, according to a study of nearly 6,000 people by researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine.

4 Nov 2011

Oral steroid users twice as likely to have severe vitamin D deficiency

People taking oral steroids are twice as likely as the general population to have severe vitamin D deficiency, according to a study of more than 31,000 children and adults by scientists at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University.

30 Sep 2011

African-American men living in low sunlight areas more likely to have Vitamin D deficiency

African-American men living in areas with low sunlight are up to 3 - times more likely to have Vitamin D deficiency than Caucasian men and should take high levels of Vitamin D supplements, according to a new study from Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.

21 Sep 2011

IOF presents eight young investigator awards to researchers across the world

Eight IOF Young Investigator Awards were presented by the International Osteoporosis Foundation (IOF) to young researchers from Australia, China, India and Japan, in recognition of their outstanding work. The awards, valued at 1,000 USD each, were awarded to the highest scored abstracts by researchers under the age of 40.

7 Sep 2011