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.

Role of vitamin D in kidney disease examined

Vitamin D is the key to preventing rickets and osteoporosis, but Rockefeller University scientists suspect it may also play a role in heading off atherosclerosis in people with chronic kidney disease.

26 Aug 2008

In-depth review of current research on the health effects of vitamin D

Despite considerable progress in research to understand the health effects of vitamin D, experts convened by the NIH to review the available data found major gaps in the evidence. The data are strongest in the area of bone health among elderly men and post-menopausal women, suggesting that increased vitamin D intake can improve bone health and prevent falls. For other age groups and health issues, though, it is too early to say conclusively whether more vitamin D might be beneficial.

12 Aug 2008

Sunshine vitamin protect against heart attacks

In a study by researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health and Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, it has been found that men with low levels of vitamin D have an increased risk for heart attacks.

10 Jun 2008

Calls for parents of vegan girl with severe rickets to face court

The parents of a young British girl brought up on a strict vegan diet could face court after the child was admitted to hospital with a degenerative bone condition.

9 Jun 2008

Low levels of vitamin D appear common in healthy children

Many healthy infants and toddlers may have low levels of vitamin D, and about one-third of those appear to have some evidence of reduced bone mineral content on X-rays, according to a report in the June issue of Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine.

2 Jun 2008

First study to examine vitamin D insufficiency in pediatric patients with low bone density

Vitamin D insufficiency is common in adults and is emerging in the world of pediatrics. A mild degree of vitamin D deficiency, also known as vitamin D insufficiency, causes rickets in children and can be treated with increased amount of nutritional vitamin D intake as well as increased sun exposure.

2 Jun 2008

Potential hypophosphatasia therapy discovered

Researchers at the Burnham Institute for Medical Research, led by José Luis Millán, Ph.D., have demonstrated in mice the first successful use of enzyme replacement therapy to prevent hypophosphatasia (HPP), a primary skeletal disease of genetic origin. This discovery lays the foundation for future clinical trials for HPP patients.

1 Jun 2008

Peripheral arterial disease linked to too little vitamin D

According to the results of the latest research peripheral arterial disease (PAD) may be linked to low levels of vitamin D.

21 Apr 2008

Is there convincing biological or behavioral evidence linking vitamin D deficiency to brain dysfunction?

In a definitive critical review, scientists at Children's Hospital & Research Center Oakland ask whether there is convincing biological or behavioral evidence linking vitamin D deficiency to brain dysfunction.

21 Apr 2008

Softening of the skull bones in normal-looking babies might reflect vitamin D deficiency during pregnancy

Softening of the skull bones in normal-looking babies might reflect vitamin D deficiency during pregnancy, according to a new study accepted for publication in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (JCEM).

26 Mar 2008

Low blood levels of vitamin D linked to heart attacks and strokes

According to new research people who have low levels of vitamin D in their blood are at an increased risk for heart attack, heart failure and stroke.

7 Jan 2008

Researchers say health benefits of sunshine outweigh the skin cancer risk and might help you live longer

According to a new study sunshine might help you live longer and for some people the health benefits possibly outweigh the skin cancer risk of skin cancer.

7 Jan 2008

Vitamin D2 is as effective as vitamin D3 in maintaining concentrations of 25-hydroxyvitamin D

Researchers from Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) have found that vitamin D2 is equally as effective as vitamin D3 in maintaining 25-hydroxyvitamin D status.

3 Jan 2008

Vitamin D protects against colorectal cancer

According to a new study by researchers at the U.S. National Cancer Institute (NCI) there is no link between vitamin D levels and the overall risk of dying from cancer.

31 Oct 2007

$Women with low levels of vitamin D have an increased risk of hip fracture$

Women with low levels of vitamin D have an increased risk of hip fracture

Women with low levels of vitamin D have an increased risk of hip fracture, according to a study led by the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health presented this week at the 29th annual meeting of the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research at the Hawaii Convention Center.

21 Sep 2007

Link found between a lack of vitamin D and pre-eclampsia

Researchers in the United States have found an association between vitamin D levels in pregnant women and the risk of pre-eclampsia; they say women who have a vitamin D deficiency early in their pregnancy are at risk from pre-eclampsia.

9 Sep 2007

Vitamin D deficiency remains an under-recognized problem in children

Many otherwise healthy children and adolescents have low vitamin D levels, which may put them at risk for bone diseases such as rickets.

10 Jul 2007

Vitamin D deficient rickets in infants

The message about preventing vitamin D deficient rickets in children is not getting through, warn senior doctors in this week's BMJ.

23 Jun 2007

Pregnant women should supplement vitamin D

Pregnant women should take steps to ensure they have adequate vitamin D in their diet, or they and especially their unborn children may run the risk of developing autoimmune diseases such as diabetes and thyroid diseases.

7 Mar 2007

Vitamin D deficiency widespread among women during pregnancy

Even regular use of prenatal multivitamin supplements is not adequate to prevent vitamin D insufficiency, University of Pittsburgh researchers report in the current issue of the Journal of Nutrition, the publication of the American Society for Nutrition.

28 Feb 2007