Deficiency disease caused by lack of vitamin D that causes malformed bones and pain in infants is called?

Deficiency disease caused by lack of vitamin D that causes malformed bones and pain in infants is called?

• A. Rickets
• B. Scurvy
• C. Osteoporosis
• D. Pellagra

Answer: (A)

Vitamin D deficiency disrupts calcium and phosphate mineralization in growing bones, so when the deficiency occurs in infants, the bones fail to mineralize properly and become soft and deformed, often with bone pain. That pattern is classic for rickets. In infants, rickets can show as bowed legs, delayed growth, and skull or chest deformities, reflecting how malnourished or under-mineralized bones bend or ache as they form. Scurvy comes from a lack of vitamin C and mainly affects collagen production, leading to gum problems and poor wound healing rather than the characteristic bone deformities seen with vitamin D deficiency. Osteoporosis is a thinning of bone mass that mostly affects adults and increases fracture risk, not infant bone malformation. Pellagra results from niacin deficiency and presents with dermatitis, diarrhea, and dementia, not bone deformities in infants. So the condition described—bone malformations and pain in infants due to insufficient vitamin D—fits rickets.

Vitamin D deficiency disrupts calcium and phosphate mineralization in growing bones, so when the deficiency occurs in infants, the bones fail to mineralize properly and become soft and deformed, often with bone pain. That pattern is classic for rickets. In infants, rickets can show as bowed legs, delayed growth, and skull or chest deformities, reflecting how malnourished or under-mineralized bones bend or ache as they form.

Scurvy comes from a lack of vitamin C and mainly affects collagen production, leading to gum problems and poor wound healing rather than the characteristic bone deformities seen with vitamin D deficiency. Osteoporosis is a thinning of bone mass that mostly affects adults and increases fracture risk, not infant bone malformation. Pellagra results from niacin deficiency and presents with dermatitis, diarrhea, and dementia, not bone deformities in infants.

So the condition described—bone malformations and pain in infants due to insufficient vitamin D—fits rickets.