eileen

http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/...45acd1&k=87642

Vitamin D deficiency turns up in babies

15 confirmed cases of rickets found in Ottawa children


Joanne Laucius, The Ottawa Citizen

Published: Thursday, June 28, 2007
Despite generations of cod liver oil, fortified milk, vitamin supplements and sunshine, vitamin D deficiency rickets has persisted among babies and children in Canada, a study led by a CHEO researcher has concluded.
Rickets, the soft-bone disease that can cause painful bone deformities, can easily be prevented with vitamin D, known as the "sunshine vitamin."
The two-year study of 2,325 pediatricians across Canada led by pediatric endocrinologist Dr. Leanne Ward found 104 confirmed cases of rickets, including 15 in Ottawa. She believes if family physicians had been surveyed as well as pediatricians, the study would have uncovered even more
cases. Of the 104 cases, 20 cases had progressed to the point where the child had experienced hypocalcemic seizures.

Vitamin D is a hormone that makes it possible to absorb calcium, and a deficiency can trigger seizures - which, if prolonged, can result in brain damage.
Dr. Ward, who is conducting studies on childhood skeletal health, said she wasn't surprised at the numbers she found in her study, published Thursday in the online version of the Canadian Medical Association Journal.
"I was seeing it all too frequently, and so were my colleagues. We think this is the tip of the iceberg," said Dr. Ward.
"We shouldn't see any cases at all. This should be eradicated, like smallpox."
Doctors usually identify rickets through a visual examination of a patient, then confirm it through a blood test and an X-ray. If caught early, rickets can be treated with large doses of vitamin D.
Despite the fact almost two-thirds of the cases in the study were found in large cities, including 26 in Toronto, seven in Calgary and seven in Edmonton, the incidence rates were highest among children living in the Yukon, Northwest Territories and Nunavut.
Almost 90 per cent of the cases were among children with intermediate and darker skin colouration; vitamin D is more easily synthesized in people with light skin. And 94 per cent of the cases were children who were breast-fed without vitamin D supplements.
Breast milk is indisputably the best food for infants, but there's not enough vitamin D in breast milk to prevent rickets, said Dr. Ward.
Neo-natal nurses and doctors need to drive home the point that infants who breast-feed need a vitamin D supplement, she said.
Although exposure to sunlight does spark vitamin D production, she believes there is no need to increase sun exposure.
Meanwhile, there is a growing body of research that suggests vitamin D has lifelong benefits for the immune system, and may be an anti-cancer agent, said Dr. Ward.

Neon Beach

Yeah, ok then.

eileen

tell that to those 15 kids (unbelievable huh)

eileen