It’s a sad testament to the indifference in which many people hold their bodies, and the disinterest about the junk they put in them, that rickets — a disease actually eliminated in the developed world about eighty years ago– has been reported in the United Kingdom, one of the richest and most advanced countries in the world.
Coming on the heels of the case of a student admitted to the ER with scurvy — a disease identified and eliminated way back in the eighteenth century — this is a gloomy milestone indeed.
Both rickets and scurvy are conditions that should simply not arise in the 21st Century, because they are caused by simple vitamin deficiency and a severly unbalanced diet.
Scurvy which gives rise to bleeding gums and other nasties is simply a deficiency of vitamin C. Centuries ago, this was particularly prevalent in sailors, who had to live for months on end on a very restricted diet of ship’s biscuits and very little else — certainly no fresh fruit.
The first practical cure was evolved by British naval surgeon, James Lind in the 1700s, who made sure his ship’s crew eat a ration of citrus fruits. These tended to be limes, for their keeping qualities — which gives rise to the nickname for the Brits as “Limeys”.
Rickets is also a condition cause by a vitamin deficiency. In this case it is Vitamin D. Now the body manufactures its own Vitamin D as a reaction, when sunlight touches the skin. However, even when sunlight is restricted during these winter months, it is possible to get ample quantities of this vital vitamin from oily fish — particularly sardines — as well as eggs.
