Rickets On The Rise In Parts Of England Due To Insufficient Vitamin D

The bone disease known as rickets, associated with poverty and unhealthy diets, was eradicated eight decades ago, but is returning to the U.K., according to a leading orthopedic physician. Prof. Nicholas Clarke, consultant orthopedic surgeon at Southampton General Hospital, says rickets resurfaced in northern areas of the U.K. earlier in the year and has now been found in increasing numbers among young people in Southampton. And it’s no longer a disease confined to poor populations. The key problem, Clarke says, is insufficient levels of vitamin D in the blood, due to a lack of sun exposure and a poor diet. He urges wider use of vitamin D supplements to stop the increase in rickets cases.