Dictionary of Cancer Terms
View in Spanish: Raquitismo
Rachitis (ray-KY-tis)
A condition in children in which bones become soft and deformed because they don’t have enough calcium and phosphorus. It is caused by not having enough vitamin D in the diet or by not getting enough sunlight. In adults, this condition is called osteomalacia. Also called infantile rickets, juvenile rickets, and rickets.
Source: National Cancer Institute Dictionary of Cancer Terms, available at www.cancer.gov/dictionary.