The Etiology of Rickets: A Clinical and Experimental Study

Findlay, Leonard

doi:10.1136/bmj.2.2479.13

Cited by 24 publications

(16 citation statements)

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“…. allows the generation of some harmful product, and so by auto‐intoxication brings about the disease (Findlay 1908: 17)…”

Section: Rickets –“The Hidden Disease” Vitamin D and Sunlightmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Medicalization of Sunlight in the Early Twentieth Century

Carter

2011

J Historical Sociology

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This paper traces the emergence of the therapeutic use of sunlight in medicine during the first half of the twentieth century. This was a period of considerable flux in medicine with various strands of practice and theory competing. Drawing on two case studies of sunlight therapy, both artificial (actinotherapy) and natural (heliotherapy), in the treatment of rickets and tuberculosis this paper will explore how medicine was constituted within these regimes. The paper will argue that therapeutic and clinical applications of sunlight helped establish an association between sunlight and health but also defined a particular and specific performance of medicine.

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“…. allows the generation of some harmful product, and so by auto‐intoxication brings about the disease (Findlay 1908: 17)…”

Section: Rickets –“The Hidden Disease” Vitamin D and Sunlightmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Medicalization of Sunlight in the Early Twentieth Century

Carter

2011

J Historical Sociology

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“…8 Until the beginning of the 20th century, the cause of rickets was not known although many hypotheses were offered ranging from too much alum in bread 9 to lack of exercise. 10 In 1918 Edward Mellanby (1884Mellanby ( -1955 showed an antirachitic vitamin present in cod liver oil 11 and in 1919 Kurt Huldschinsky (1883 -1940) cured rickets using ultraviolet lamps. 12 The isolation of vitamin D in 1922 by Elmer McCollum (1876-1967), 13 and the subsequent realization that it could be synthesized in the skin, helped bring the era of rickets to an end, as milk and margarine in Europe and America were fortified with vitamin D by irradiation, 14 thus practically eradicating the disease.…”

Section: A Brief History Of Ricketsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Although Palm advocates the use of sunbaths as a cure for rickets, he does not present conclusive proof that the therapy would work. In his high profile article of 1908, also entitled 'The aetiology of rickets', 10 Dr Leonard Findlay (1878-1947) concludes: 'Not one of the many theories which have been elaborated to explain the cause of rickets has been universally accepted and they all lack ... from the experimental aspect, unequivocal proof '. 10 Perhaps this is why Kurt Huldschinsky was later credited with proving the link between sunlight and rickets; his paper, published in the German journal Deutsche Mediziniche Wochenschrift, used experimental evidence to prove that administering 'sun baths' to rachitic children using ultraviolet lamps cured rickets.…”

Section: How Was Palm's Revelation Received?mentioning

confidence: 99%

The chemistry of light: The life and work of Theobald Adrian Palm (1848–1928)

Ekpe

2009

J Med Biogr

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The chemistry of light examines the work of Dr Theobald Palm. After his graduation from Edinburgh University, Palm joined the Edinburgh medical mission and was sent to Niigata in Japan where he remained for 10 years. During this time he noted the absence of rickets (a disease rife in Britain) in Japanese children and instituted a survey from which he deduced that sunlight deficiency was implicated in the aetiology of rickets. Unfortunately, he was largely ignored by the medical world. This paper seeks to contextualize his work. By placing Palm's study within a historical and social framework, its reception can be explained more easily.

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“…Snow's theory that alum in bread contributed to rickets is not as implausible as other theories of its cause, such as confinement [7]), a miasma [5] or direct invasion of the growth plate by a bacterium [27]. Rickets and tuberculosis were so prevalent that they were thought by some to be components of the same malady [28].…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…At its peak in the 19th and 20th century between 60 and 90% of infants in the industrialized cities of northern Europe, the United Kingdom (UK), and North America had rickets [4,5]. Rickets was a major area of study for countless experts in childhood disorders [6] and numerous theories abounded as to its cause [7,8]. By 1930, the dual origin of vitamin D-dietary and photocutaneous synthesis stimulated by ultraviolet B (UVB) wavelength rays was known, and the importance of smoke-and soot-filled skies that filtered sunlight in urban coal-burning industrial centers was firmly established [9,10].…”

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confidence: 99%

New thoughts concerning the epidemic of rickets: was the role of alum overlooked?

Chesney

2011

Pediatr Nephrol

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Recent emphasis on the re-emergence of nutritional rickets has renewed interest in the etiology and therapy of this devastating disorder. At its peak in the 19th and 20th century, rickets was a major area of study for countless experts in childhood disorders and numerous theories abounded as to its cause. These included, among others, infections, confinement or intestinal disturbances, and were largely discarded after the discovery of the role of vitamin D and the importance of ultraviolet irradiation. Once a good explanation had been found for the cause of the disorder and the curative power of vitamin D proven, whether it was obtained from the diet or through exposure to sunlight, there was no apparent need to look any further into the etiology of rickets. But in fact there may have been other contributory factors, recognition of which might have lessened the severity of the disease or hastened recovery. One of these theories might be of particular interest to pediatric nephrologists because it relates to insoluble aluminum-based phosphate binders. Namely, alum used as an adulterant in bread in certain locations may have contributed to metabolic bone disease during the great epidemic of rickets.

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The Etiology of Rickets: A Clinical and Experimental Study

Cited by 24 publications

References 0 publications

The Medicalization of Sunlight in the Early Twentieth Century

The Medicalization of Sunlight in the Early Twentieth Century

The chemistry of light: The life and work of Theobald Adrian Palm (1848–1928)

New thoughts concerning the epidemic of rickets: was the role of alum overlooked?

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