rickets
pronunciation
How to pronounce rickets in British English:
UK [ˈrɪkɪts]
How to pronounce rickets in American English:
US [ˈrɪkɪts]
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- Noun:
- childhood disease caused by deficiency of vitamin D and sunlight associated with impaired metabolism of calcium and phosphorus
Word Origin
- rickets (n.)
- disease caused by vitamin D deficiency, 1630s, of uncertain origin. Originally a local name for the disease in Dorset and Somerset, England. Some derive it from a Dorset word, rucket "to breathe with difficulty," but the sense connection is difficult. The Modern Latin name for the disease, rachitis, comes from Greek rhakhis "spine" (see rachitic), but this was chosen by English physician Daniel Whistler (1619-1684) for resemblance to rickets.
Example
- 1. Rickets develops in children , whereas osteomalacia affects adults .
- 2. Too little vitamin d can contribute to osteoporosis and rickets in children .
- 3. Without vitamin d , bones become soft and bend in the middle , giving the typical rickets appearance of bow legs .
- 4. D deficiency usually results in bad mineralization of bones , leading to bone softening , osteomalacia , rickets and osteoporosis .
- 5. Rickets is usually caused by a lack of vitamin d , which is needed to absorb calcium to build bones .