Tiny Tim, what DID that boy have?

After watching several renditions of A Christmas Carol, I was curious as to what would cause Tiny Tim to be lame, that would kill him by next Christmas, that could be cured by better nutrition and higher living standards. Doctors didn’t have much to go by back then. The family didn’t seem to be excessivly cold or starving. Any ideas? This one drives me crazy!

Look in this ancient thread.

Well, I went to the ancient thread that you suggested, Karl, but nothing I read there actually had any medical support as far as a diagnosis. Seems like a lot of speculation. My mom had rickets and she had a little bowing of the legs but none of her siblings had them.