Nutritional Osteomalacia in Immigrants in an Urban Community

The problem of rickets in UK Asians

“…Rickets and osteomalacia are less common in the south than in the north of India, even though socio-economic conditions are poorer in the south and skin pigmentation is darker. However, the phytate intake is lower in the south where rice, rather than wheat, is the main dietary cereal (Vaishnava & Rizvi, 1971) and chapattis are also less commonly eaten. Although it seems, therefore, that phytate is rachitogenic in man, it is uncertain whether this is simply due to binding of dietary calcium (Wise, 1983) or whether there is a more fundamental antagonism to the action of vitamin D.…”

Multiple Spontaneous Fractures of the Pelvis and Femoral Neck During Pregnancy

“…Osteomalacia has become an exceedingly rare disease in countries of the developed world, but it is still endemic in the northern parts of India and China (7,9,12). T h e reported incidence during pregnancy in the endemic areas of India is between 1% and 3% (9, 10); in China it is about 10% (7).…”

“…due to the custom that requires women to be heavily veiled in public (2,9,12). In addition, some patients may have resistance to the action of vitamin D (11).…”

Vitamin-D deficiency rickets in Jamaican children.

“…The response to treatment with a normal ward diet and relatively small doses of vitamin D, in most cases, and the continued normal growth and failure to (Antia, 1970;Vaishnava and Rizvi, 1971;Nagi, 1972;Salimpour, 1975). These authors all concluded that the likeliest cause of rickets and osteomalacia in their patients was a combination of dietary deficiency of vitamin D and lack of exposure to sufficient sunlight, the latter often due to the traditional habit of 'living in Purdah'.…”