The medical diseases of children . lis,are the chief causes of such a condition. The relationship betweenrickets and syphilis is to be explained in this way. Similarly, thepremature administration of starchy foods, or an excess of sugar in the RICKETS 63 diet, may predispose to rickets by setting up digestive disorders whichprevent the absorption of the proper amount of fat. The children of the poor are more commonly rickety than thoseof the well-to-do, owing to the more frequent use amongst them of thefaulty methods of feeding which have been mentioned. Some authorsinvoke defective hygiene, o
The medical diseases of children . lis,are the chief causes of such a condition. The relationship betweenrickets and syphilis is to be explained in this way. Similarly, thepremature administration of starchy foods, or an excess of sugar in the RICKETS 63 diet, may predispose to rickets by setting up digestive disorders whichprevent the absorption of the proper amount of fat. The children of the poor are more commonly rickety than thoseof the well-to-do, owing to the more frequent use amongst them of thefaulty methods of feeding which have been mentioned. Some authorsinvoke defective hygiene, over-crowding, absence of fresh air andsunlight, as direct causes of rickets; but it is more probable that theseare to be regarded chiefly as mere associations of poverty, althoughthey may tend to produce malassimilation of food. Age.—It is doubtful if rickets is ever truly congenital ; certainly itis very rarely met with before the third month of life. By the sixthmonth it is not uncommonly recognizable ; but its most pronounced. Fig. 10.—Rickets : Severe Deformities of Chest, Clavicles, and L,ong Dorsal Clubbing of Fingers of Right Hand. (Age 3^ years). features do not appear usually until the second year. The active stageof the disease ceases during the third and fourth years, except in thoserare cases known as late rickets (p. 72). Symptomatology.—Rickets is not a disease of the osseous systemalone. Although the bony changes occur early and render the diagnosiseasy, symptoms may arise from the respiratory, alimentary, muscularor nervous systems, and these may dominate the clinical picture. In the worst cases, severe wasting may be present, but in many thechild is fat, often too fat, pale and flabby. The temperature is notraised unless some complication be present, although there is apparentlysome sensation of heat, if we judge by the frequency with which the 64 CONSTITUTIONAL DISEASES bed-clothes are kicked aside at night by the patient. Sweating oi thehead,
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, booksubjectpediatrics, bookyear1
