Health: Quick guide to ... Rickets

1 February 2010 1 min read Health

Widely thought to have been banished to the annals of history, the bone disorder rickets appears to be making a comeback. Last month doctors warned that computer-obsessed children spending too long indoors and over-anxious parents who administer too much sunscreen are contributing to a sharp rise in cases of the condition being reported.

- Rickets is a disorder that affects children, causing poor development of the bones in the skeleton. The term rickets comes from the Old English word wrickken, meaning to twist or bend. It is in many cases caused by a vitamin D deficiency and can lead to symptoms including soft skull bones, a prominent, square-shaped forehead, thickening of the knees (also known as knock-knees) and thickening of the ankles and wrists. The condition can also lead to body weight causing arm and leg bones to bow

- Rickets is not a fatal condition, but if a child has it, they may be more vulnerable to complications and infections, such as pneumonia. Severe rickets in childhood may prevent some girls giving birth naturally when they are older if their pelvic bone has shrunk or has been damaged

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