[Music]
[The English Disease]
[Music]
[The English Disease]
[Narrator:] England can claim the sad glory
that rickets is more widespread there than anywhere else.
It was described there as early as the 17th century
and has been known as the English Disease ever since.
And England used this disease as a weapon against us in the Great War,
as this extract from an English newspaper proves.
[We have tried to stop our enemies from desiring to bring children into the world.]
[Should they reach school age, rickets would ensure
that these half-crippled beings would be mentally deficient.]
This disfiguration of the leg bones is a consequence of rickets.
Radiography shows how heavily the bones have been deformed.
Thick arms are not always a sign of good health.
Here, we observe bone distension due to a lack of vitamin D.
On the right side, afflicted arm bones; on the left, healthy ones.
Bone development is essential in the development of a child.
Via the bloodstream, the minerals calcium, phosphorus
and vitamin D – here displayed as small triangles --
get into the bone’s growth plate.
The building material for bone is a compound of calcium and phosphorus.
It is only through vitamin D that calcium is able to bond with phosphorus
and become calcium phosphate.
Hence, vitamin D is an absolute necessity for bone development.
Only in this way does bone grow straight and solid.
If there is a lack of vitamin D, calcium and phosphorus will not be able to bond.
These substances exit the bloodstream, unused.
Development is impaired; bone distensions
and deformations caused by rickets occur as a result.
Once bone growth is complete, rickets is no longer curable.
The doctor can do no more than to relieve the pain.
For women, rickets is particularly disastrous.
The normal female pelvis has a round pelvic inlet,
while one affected by rickets is flattened into an oval.
A comparison of a normal pelvis
and one affected by rickets clearly shows the deformation.
During birth, the head of the child rotates.
This is possible with a normal pelvis; with one flattened due to rickets, in contrast, this cannot occur without difficulty.
This nearly always results in difficult childbirth.
The first symptoms of rickets: it begins with excessive sweating on the back of the head.
General muscular weakness can also be a sign of a disordered mineral metabolism.
The hardening of bones in the rib cage
constitutes something which has been called the rickets rosary.
A child who isn’t able to stand at the age of one, but who begins to cry painfully
when he or she should be able to stand, is suffering from rickets.
Therefore, prevention of the English Disease must start from the earliest stages of infancy.
First requirement: the baby has to be breastfed by its mother for as long as possible.
For this reason, it is vital that the mother has a healthy lifestyle.
Being outside is essential for babies and small children.
This mother is getting it all wrong.
The baby’s head has to be kept out of the sun,
since severe damage could otherwise occur.
This is wrong as well, because the baby’s head is still in the sun.
Sunbathing must not go on for too long.
The basic rule is: head in the shade, body in the sunlight.
Light, air, and sun: these are our weapons against rickets.
A vitamin-rich diet is also valuable
in the healthy development of children.
In plant foods such as salads or vegetables, vitamin D is present
in a preliminary stage, as what is called provitamin.
Raw, shredded carrots, spinach and salads are particularly important for the young child.
The provitamin ingested with food gets transformed into vitamin D
through the exposure of the human skin to the sun.
A cross-section through the skin: the blood brings the preliminary stage of the vitamin,
which we have called provitamin, to the surface of the skin.
When exposed to the rays of the sun on the surface of the skin,
it turns into vitamin D…
…and the bloodstream transports it throughout the whole organism.
In months with low sunlight, the danger of falling ill with rickets is particularly high.
In winter, the sun alone no longer has the strength to prevent rickets.
For this reason, the counter-measures being taken by the Reich Health Authorities…
…are applied throughout Germany at these times of year.
Every mother is sent to a mothers’ advice center
and the baby receives a thorough examination.
The investigating doctor primarily pays attention to the symptoms of rickets.
To prevent the English Disease, every mother in the Greater German Reich
receives vitamin D in the form of Vigantol.
In cases where babies are particularly vulnerable to rickets, for instance premature infants
or twins, treatments with sun lamps are also used.
To prevent rickets, give five drops of Vigantol once a day
with a spoon-full of porridge or other food.
National Socialist Germany is ensuring
that the English Disease will never become a German disease.