Calcium important for curing rickets

A team of scientists in Nigeria published new evidence suggesting that a calcium deficiency may cause rickets in young children, according to a study published in The New England Journal of Medicine (TNEJOM) on Thursday. Rickets, a condition that causes bones to soften and become deformed, remains a major health problem in many developing countries and among some sections of the population in developed countries, according to TNEJOM. Until now, a lack of Vitamin D was regarded as the primary cause of rickets but it did not explain how rickets could be common in the tropics where children get plenty of Vitamin D through exposure to sunlight. To test the theory that calcium deficiency, rather than vitamin D, was often responsible for rickets after infancy, scientists from Jos University Hospital conducted a series of tests on Nigerian children with rickets and those without. They concluded that Nigerian children with rickets have a low intake of calcium and have a better response to treatment with calcium alone or in combination with vitamin D than to treatment with vitamin D alone, the study said. After weaning, the TNEJOM said, the staple diet of many young African children is maize porridge with low calcium and high fibre content. Children who develop rickets, typically the disease becomes apparent around the age of 18 months, may suffer from delayed motor movement, knock knees or bowed legs and it is strongly associated with pneumonia in young children in developing countries. Youths attack Texaco office A spokeswoman for the oil company Texaco Inc told Reuters that 150 youths who occupied the US company's offices in Warri in the Niger Delta on Wednesday left after causing minor damage. The incident occurred after company officials met six local youths who had requested jobs with Texaco, she said. The independent `Guardian' reported on Thursday that more than 1,000 youths, protesting at a lack of employment, smashed windows and glass doors, locked staff inside and left a symbolic coffin outside the entrance when they left, according to Reuters. Texaco said the newspaper's report was inaccurate, Reuters reported. Recent community unrest in the Niger Delta region has forced Texaco to evacuate offshore platforms and close 50,000 bpd of crude output. Texaco said it was holding discussions with community leaders, Reuters reported.