Cases of a disease that was prevalent in the slums of Victorian-era Britain are 700% higher in Scotland than in England, according to figures.
A total of 442 cases were recorded in 2022 compared with 482 across the whole of England and most (356) were in the NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde area.
Rickets is caused by a sustained lack of Vitamin D, which comes from exposure to sunlight or is found in food like oily fish or eggs.
This can lead to a softening of bones which may result in bone pain or skeletal deformities such as bowed legs or knock knees.
The disease mostly disappeared more than half a century ago after sustained efforts to improve the population’s diet and exposure to sunlight. The latest figures show it has returned and is mostly being seen in adults.
Data obtained by the Sunday Times showed there has been a 33% increase in cases in the past five years, from 354 in 2018 to 442 last year.
NHS Lanarkshire recorded 83 cases and NHS Forth Valley had three.
Glasgow is one of the most deprived local authority areas in Scotland and 32% of all children in the city were estimated to be living in poverty in 2021-2022, according to Glasgow Centre for Population Health (GCPH)
However, Dr Lynsay Crawford, who spent more than 20 years working as a GP in Possilpark, one of the city’s poorest areas, said the higher cases in Glasgow may not just be down to increased levels of poverty.
She said: “I only saw elderly patients who had had rickets in childhood and been left with leg deformities until Glasgow started to get more migrants and asylum seekers.
“That changed everything.
“Vitamin D deficiency causes rickets and we make Vitamin D through sunlight on our skin.
“People with darker skin are more at risk of rickets because having more pigment in your skin reduces Vitamin D production.
“Additionally, women from many countries abroad, particularly if they are Muslim, dress modestly and more of their skin is covered and they spend less time outside which further increases the risk of rickets.
“So the higher percentage of rickets in Glasgow may not just be due to poverty as it previously used to be but may be linked to the increased ethnic diversity.”.
https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/23734824.rickets-cases-700-per-cent-higher-scotland-england/