Osteomalacia

After reading Arthritis Research UK’s online pamphlet article on osteomalacia I feel very informed about this skeletal disease. This article had everything I needed to know. It told all about the disease, what it is, what causes it, who is at risk, research and more. I learned that osteomalacia means soft bones, and that is exactly what the disease is. The mineralization in the bones does not happen properly, causing bones to be made up of a collagen matrix with no mineralization covering. This causes bones to be soft, making it hard to put any pressure on them at all. People experiencing this will have constant, or almost constant, pain in bones and ligaments. Osteomalacia can also cause partial fractures in the bones due to weakness. In some cases, even muscle weakness can occur. Typically, people who have this disease are elderly, or those not able to be in any sunlight. However, women pregnant or nursing are also at risk as well as children. The form of osteomalacia found in children is called rickets. Initially anyone who has a vitamin D deficiency is at risk, as this is what causes the disease to occur. At least fifteen minutes of sun exposure, as well as a diet containing vitamin D is
I have a full understanding of osteomalacia and what I should be doing to prevent it. There were many headings to follow that made it easy to follow exactly what I was being told. I felt that it was well organized. There were a lot of things stated in this article that I have learned in class, which made me intrigued to continue reading. The only thing I was skeptical of was the repeated recommendation of sunlight, though later in the article it was stated that fifteen minutes in the sun would be enough. I thought this article could help many people wondering about osteomalacia, or inform those who may have it. It was straight forward, and would be easy for anyone to understand while also giving immense amounts of