Infection and Rickets

“Rickets is indeed a price paid by man for his abandonment of a life out-of-doors and a natural diet for a life in houses and a diet of denatured foodstuffs; it is a sign of the operation of the immutable law of nature that nothing out of accord with her shall flourish.” These are the words with which Professor Park of Yale University has summarized his conclusions. They indicate a reconciliation between the long contending views regarding the etiology of rickets. There can no longer be any doubt that dietary factors may assume a determining rôle; but it is equally evident that such envir onmental conditions as are represented by lack of sunlight outdoors may lead to imperfections in the metabolism of the bones even when the food supply is seemingly satisfactory. The fact that diet can exert a determining influence for or against the development of rickets in human beings does not fu rnish conclusive proof that diet always does exhibit this potency. It has been stated by Park that, in the great majority of instances, variations in the calcium and phosphorus and in the reaction of the diets fall within limits which, according to present standards, must be regarded as normal. The point that stands out with great clearness in the study of the diets of children suffering from rickets is that no single fault can be found which is common to all. The defects appear to be of various kinds and of such nature as rather to predispose to the development of rickets than actually to c...
Source: JAMA - Category: General Medicine Source Type: research