Editorial

Hypovitaminosis D in Hypertension

Authors: Thomas F. Heston, MD

Abstract

Rickets, characterized by the failure of growing bones to mineralize, is now known to be caused by vitamin D deficiency. During the Industrial Revolution, rickets was noted to be rampant among underprivileged infants in the northern United States and several large cities in Europe. An autopsy study done in 1909 found that over 95% of infants dying before 18 months of age had histopathological evidence of rickets. In 1919, Edward Mellanby determined that rickets was due to a nutritional deficiency of a fat-soluble nutrient. Although adequate sun exposure cures vitamin D deficiency, it remained an endemic condition in the United States until the food supply, primarily milk, was fortified. This led to the near eradication of the disease by the 1950s.1

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