Osteomalacia

What is Osteomalacia?

Osteomalacia refers to disease as a result of which bones become soft. "Osteo" means "bone" and "malacia" means "softness". A person suffering from Osteomalacia often has pain in the body and weakness. In case of children Osteomalacia is commonly referred to as Rickets and the term Osteomalacia is used only in case of the adult form of the disease. The cause of the disease is the deficiency of Vitamin D, which happens when there is insufficient exposure to sunlight since sunlight stimulates the production of this Vitamin D in the body. It is a disability that is normally found in adults who do not get a proper diet or whose movements are restricted since all the mentioned conditions lead to the deficiency of Vitamin D in the body or the absorption of it in the digestive tract of the individual. Though Osteomalacia is also a bone disorder, it is different from Osteoporosis that also is related to weak bones and leads to bone fractures. Osteomalacia is a disorder of the bone building process and Osteoporosis is the weakening of the bone with age.

Symptoms of Osteomalacia

Since it is not a very visible disease the symptoms are only observable in the later stages though if X-ray pictures are taken of the bones in the earlier stages, the disintegration of the bones is clearly visible. Even the diagnosis tests show the symptoms of the disease but as the disease reaches the later stages the symptoms include the following:

• Ache in the bones- Patients of Osteomalacia suffer from pain in the bones and usually in the lower spine, pelvis, legs and feet. The pain is not acute though it is consistent and the pain is aggravated when the body does physical activity. It can be observed if any part of the body, where the bone can be felt, is pressed since it would result to terrible ache. The pain in the bones does not radiate and the bones become soft.
• Weakness in the Muscles- Due to Osteomalacia there can be a weakness in the muscles and that can result to a weakness in the arms and legs. The muscle would be considerably less tones and the patient would face discomfort when moved, therefore it is seen that people with Osteomalacia move with difficulty.
• Physical Deformities- There are physical deformities like the triradiate pelvis and lordosis since the bones become tender. There can also be fractures since the bones cannot bear the weight of the body.

Causes of Osteomalacia

Osteomalacia is generally caused due to the lowering down of Osteoid, which is kind of a bone protein matrix and is made of type 1 collagen. When there is a deficiency of minerals in the body the osteoid does not mineralize and as a result of which accumulates in the body. Though there are no growth plates in adults but the adult bones constantly remodels it and to aid in this process the bones constantly make and break themselves. They are broken with the help of special cells called Osteoclasts and made again with the help of Osteoblasts. When the bones are made the collagen fibers attach themselves to each other and minerals like calcium also integrate into the network of fibers and this process is called "mineralization". The strength of the bones is determined by the presence of minerals in the bone. Vitamin D helps in the absorption of the minerals in the bone digestive tract, which in turn helps in the building of the bone. Thus this is the process of bone building and deficiency of anything that is required for the process has a fair chance of leading towards Osteomalacia.

• Deficiency of Vitamin D - If there is a deficiency of Vitamin D that normally occurs when the body is not exposed to sunlight or when the diet does not consist of sources that can supply Vitamin D to the body. The latter is becoming the common cause though there are considerable chances that if strong sunscreen is used and the body is covered most of the times, which protects the body from sunlight, which is a potential source of Vitamin D.
• Gastrectomic Surgeries- Since the food is broken down in the stomach and the Vitamin D in the body is then absorbed by the body, therefore ant attempt to alter, change, bypass or remove parts due to some other disorder also ca lead to Osteomalacia.
• Pancreatic Disorders-There can be various Pancreatic disorders which can lead to Osteomalacia since Pancreas is the organ that secretes digestive enzymes which help in the breaking down of the food particles, hence any disorder that interferes with the process of absorption of minerals can lead to this bone disorder.

Treatment of Osteomalacia

Since mentioned earlier that Osteomalacia results due to the deficiency of vitamin D in the body, the cure is to supply the body with vitamin D supplements. If it is an extreme case then the supplements are no longer helpful, Vitamin D is injected in the veins of the patient. At times Osteomalacia is caused due to the deficiency of Phosphorous or Calcium; even those supplements can be taken to facilitate the bone building process. Once the treatment is begun regular blood tests should be conducted so that the level and the increase of levels of the required nutrients can be checked. It is always better to keep on taking the Vitamin D supplements to prevent Osteomalacia from recurring.