I have decided to write about this because it is not something that I know very much about, but working at a doctors office I have seen a few patients come into the office that are suffering from rickets and it has often intrigued me to learn more about it, and I now have the chance to. Rickets is a disease of divergent causes that is characterized by a defect in matrix mineralization, most often related to lack of vitamin D or some disturbance in its metabolism. Rickets specifically a disorder in children in which deranged bone growth procudes distinctive skeletal deformities. Once the child becomes an adult the term is then changed to osteomalacia because the bone that forms during the remodeling process is undermineralized. This can result in osteopenia and predisposition to insufficiency fractures. I find this very interesting because I have seen older patients in the office that suffered from rickets in their childhood, and now suffer from osteomalacia and because of this it effects thier joints and many of the patients that we see suffer from fractures and degenerative joint disease, especially in their knees. This is very good for forensic pathologists to know about if they are doing an autposy or are trying to get a history of a patient because if someone does have rickets it may explain many other problems that are going on in their body such as fractures, and bone diseases which coupled with age can eventually lead to, or advance their death.
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Forensic Nursing Chronicles 