Osteomalacia

Osteomalacia – General Information

Osteomalacia is a disorder which affects the osseous system; it appears because of the insufficiency of vitamin D and it mostly affects old people and those who live in poor regions, like South Asia. When this illness affects small children it cause major disabilities and it leads to a poor development of their skeleton; but, nowadays, there aren’t many situations like this and the disease affects, in most of the cases, adults. Osteomalacia actually means “soft bones”. It is generally known the fact that some parts of the bone are removed and replaced as a natural process, in order to assure the quality of these tissues. A bone is composed by four important parts: matrix, mineral, osteoclasts and osteoblasts. A normal process means that osteoclasts take out the present bone and osteoblasts create collagen matrix. The next stage is represented by the mineralization process when the new fibres are strengthened with mineral.
Osteomalacia appears when, during the last phase, there is not enough mineral to coat the bone. This way, more and more bones are replaced by a single collagen matrix, without any mineral which makes them softer and easier to break. This condition is quite unbearable and, even if is not noticeable, it is extremely painful. The people who are more probably to experience this disorder are those living in South Asia because of the sunlight and their eating habits. As their bodies do not produce that much vitamin D they should try to provide it from the food they eat.

Osteomalacia – Symptoms

Osteomalacia usually causes muscle weakness and bone pain but the general symptoms are very confusing and vague and they differ a lot from one person to another. In addition, this disease cannot be identified quickly and it is probably to suffer from it for a couple of years before finding out that you are ill.
The pain caused by this disorder does not regularly regard just one part of the body; you usually feel it in the legs, knees, groin, and thighs and in the feet when you perform demanding actions. Backache is frequent and, in some cases, you can experience a minor knock on the osseous tissue but that is not painful at all. Furthermore, when the disease evolves the pain you feel is getting worst: you will feel pain in every part of your body and you will not be able to move. Once the bones become painful, the muscular system is affected too and you will experience severe weakness. This feeling appears especially in the shoulders and in the frontal part of the body, making any effort to seem impossible. The patients may eventually end up in a wheel-chair as they will not be able to control their bodies. Other symptoms involve minor cracks in the bones; at first these are not painful but they can turn into major fractures if you do not treat them quickly. An even more dramatic symptom of Osteomalacia is the complete loss of muscular strength because the mineral will be deposited completely in the tendons and ligaments.

Osteomalacia - Treatment

Osteomalacia is described as a lack of vitamin D; unlike the other substances this one doesn’t need to be obtained from the things we eat. Our organism produces its own vitamin D when exposed to light; this vitamin will then change into a hormone, called calcitriol which is important for encouraging the intestines to absorb phosphorus and calcium. During spring and summer the body makes deposits of vitamin D in order to use them in autumn and winter; and if we think that we can also provide a small quantity of this vitamin from the products we eat, then we should consider ourselves protected from Osteomalacia. As people get older, their skin produces smaller amounts of vitamin D and, in this situation, they must be aware of the products they consume, they must follow a diet. This diet should contain products reach in vitamin D, like fish (especially herring, tinned tuna, tinned salmon), milk, and eggs.
For diagnosing this disease, all you have to do is to take a simple blood test; this will give you all the information about the levels of phosphorus, calcium and vitamin D. If you want to be extremely convinced by the results there are some more complex tests you can choose from and you can even take an x-ray test.
In order to treat Osteomalacia you should follow two important stages:

• Starting the treatment
• Finding out why the disease affected you

The treatment prescribed by your doctor will treat the illness but it will depend on you to recover from the pain and weakness. The common treatment involves supplements of vitamin D and, in rare cases, an injection once in a few months. In addition, you can also take vitamin C tablets which will accelerate the mineralization of the bones. Once you start taking these supplements you are not allowed to stop the administration until the disease is totally cured; otherwise, Osteomalacia will affect you again and again. The most important part of the healing process is for the patient to really want to get better and to be able to follow a specific diet. If they need further advices, they should see a dietitian. These specialized people will inform you about the products reach in vitamin D and, especially if you are an old person, a pregnant woman or a breastfeeding mother, they will prescribe you supplements. From another point of view, Osteomalacia can have more dramatic causes. If you are diagnosed with this disease, you should also ask your personal doctor to search for the reasons why you developed this illness. Apart from being caused by a lack of vitamin D, this disorder can appear because chronic kidney failure, chronic liver problems or celiac disease. It can also develop because a previous stomach surgery or because of the administration of tablets for epilepsy. You are diagnosed with any of these problems you will probably need permanent supervision of your doctor or a nurse. You will be prescribed special kind of vitamin D supplements and you will need to be regularly monitored in a special medical unit.