IV. DEGENERATION OF THE BONE TISSUE.
Rickets, Osteomalacia and similar diseases.
The condition of the skeleton,—the solid structure of the osseous frame,—is of the greatest importance to the maintenance of health. Its various forms of disease,—such as deficient development of bone; osteomalacia,—softening of the bones; flat foot; caries—molecular decay or death of the bones, especially of the teeth,—are based mostly upon rachitis (rickets).
Rachitis should be fought at the time the child develops in the womb, by properly feeding the mother and preparing her to give it, after birth, healthy milk, with all the elements necessary for bone structure.
Rachitis is principally lack of lime in the food, which causes parts of the bones to remain soft instead of becoming rigid.
It is a constitutional, often hereditary, disease caused by poor nutrition and by influences of environment, such as marshy regions and humid climates.
The lack of lime in the food is often obvious when children show a tendency to eat chalk, and even to scratch walls in order to eat the lime obtained therefrom.
More solid food, that gives work to the teeth and the digestive organs, is certainly advisable in such cases.
The symptoms of rachitis become apparent at the pelvis and at the wide open, soft parts of the skull, the unossified fontanelles. The cartilage in the wrists and ankles becomes thick. Slow development of the teeth, swollen glands in the neck, inflammations in different parts of the body, cramps and convulsions,—among others, of the vocal cords,—are further indications. In the progressive development of the disease, the softened cartilage grows and protrudes everywhere, especially in the thorax, such as "rachitis rosary." Crooked bones and hunchbacks not infrequently develop.