The First Treatise on Pediatrics

Vitamin D - The Essence of Survival

“…The first citation of a case description that simulate rickets was in the book of pediatrics of Rhazes in Arabic (The Practica Puerorum in 900) translated into English and published in 1972 by RadbiIl [3] who stated: (The finest of his achievements was a monograph on smallpox and measles Practica Puerorum was a unique book of pediatrics. It was republished continuously in Latin through the centuries.…”

“…RadbiIl stated that: (About a case described he mentioned a child with big head and distended abdomen, he might have been alluding to rickets. [3] It was after more than seven centuries that Glisson in 1650 [4] published (Treaties Rachitide, acknowledging the help of seven of his colleagues. Further editions in English appeared in 1660, 1668, 1671, and 1682.…”

“…To prove this theory, we measured 25OHD levels in the mothers of rachitic infants which was found to be low compared to mothers of nonrachitic infants [11]. Hypocalcemia in infants was more eminent than the maternal level at birth [3]. In this review I am trying to expand on how rickets present, starting in the antenatal period to end in old age and how vitamin D deficiency contributes to different diseases along the life span of a human being.…”

“…These researchers suggested that the identification of sufficient levels of vitamin D in mothers and their infants is essential and accordingly advised giving adequate doses of vitamin D supplementation during gestation, lactation, and early childhood [13]. When we first reported rickets in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia, an all-year sunny city, we proposed a hypothesis that maternal vitamin D was a possible cause of rickets in their babies especially those with their ages were under one year at diagnosis [3]. Almost all the rachitic infants were breastfed, and all were living in an environment with plenty of sunshine but with poor exposure to it as mothers thought that the sun would hurt their baby [5].…”

Rhazes (ad 865–925) and his early contributions to the field of pediatrics

“…It is known in Latin as BPractica Puerorum^ [18]. This treatise is known as the first book on pediatrics [33]. The book contains 24 chapters and has been translated into Latin, German, Italian, and English.…”