Patient's question:
The baby is now three months old and is calcium deficient. I have bought AD drops and calcium powder. I always give him the AD drops in the morning, and sometimes I give him the calcium powder in the afternoon or at night. Is this okay? Or should I take them together?Doctor's answer:
Some parents call rickets "cartilage disease" and believe it is caused by calcium deficiency, so they often give their children large amounts of calcium supplements. However, the rickets are not cured as a result. What is the reason for this? The infantile rickets we currently refer to are vitamin D deficiency rickets, which means that due to insufficient vitamin D, calcium and phosphorus metabolism in the body is disrupted, and calcium salts cannot be deposited normally in the growing parts of the bones, leading to pathological changes in the growing bones. Vitamin D has three main functions: 1. Promoting the absorption of calcium and phosphorus in the small intestine 2. Promoting the reabsorption of phosphorus in the renal tubules 3. Promoting osteogenesis. Without vitamin D, even with adequate calcium supplementation, calcium absorption remains insufficient. Even if a small amount of calcium is absorbed, it cannot promote the deposition of calcium salts. Only under the action of vitamin D can osteogenic activity operate normally, and bone growth can proceed normally. Conversely, if only vitamin D is given without calcium, the deposition of calcium in the blood into the bones will cause hypocalcemia, leading to generalized convulsions, tetany, and laryngeal spasm, clinically known as hypocalcemic convulsions (tetany). Therefore, in the treatment of rickets, vitamin D is needed, but calcium supplementation must not be forgotten at the same time.