deficiency of diet or sunlight, or more frequently where there is a relative deficiency in both these factors. Improvement in diet leads to improvement in symptoms only when sunlight is available and, conversely, the provision of sunlight for cases on deficient diet is of little avail. An analysis of 400 urban cases of late rickets and osteomalacia shows that about half ?he patients live under ...

Fibroblast growth factor 23 (FGF23) is a circulating factor that plays a central role in the renal reabsorption of Pi and metabolism of vitamin D. It is mainly produced by osteocytes in bone and exerts its effects on distant organs such as the kidney and parathyroid in an endocrine fashion. FGF23 increases renal Pi excretion by reducing the expression of type 2a and 2c sodium/phosphate (Na/Pi) ...

Calcium is an essential but controversial nutrient: there is no consensus on the level of human calcium requirement or the significance of calcium deficiency. The explanation for this must be sought in the history of calcium research since Pommer (1885) first established the difference between osteoporosis and osteomalacia. Pommer showed that rickets and osteomalacia represented a failure to mi...

Malnutrition associated vitamin D deficiency contributes to the calcium loss from bone and results in osteoporosis and osteomalacia at final stage. Osteomalacia is characterized with softening of bone secondary to defective bone mineralization. Here, we report a case of possible osteomalacia caused by prolonged lactation and severe malnutrition in 35-year-old female. She was a housewife and her...

Parathormone (PTH) is composed of four glands embedded in the thyroid gland, but its function is mainly to keep calcium in the blood within normal range. It has got sensitive receptors that trigger the PTH to act in correcting serum calcium. As calcium is important for the normal functioning of many organs including vital organs like heart and brain, the PTH has to be prompt in maintaining calc...