Paget's disease of bone
Overview
Paget's disease of bone disrupts the normal cycle of bone renewal, causing bones to become weakened and possibly deformed.
Symptoms
Paget's disease of bone can affect 1 bone or several bones. Commonly affected areas include the pelvis, spine and skull. Symptoms can include: bone or joint painskin feeling warm over the affected bonechanges in bone shapea shooting pain that travels along or across the body, numbness and tingling (peripheral neuropathy), or balance problems But in many cases there are no symptoms and the condition is only found during tests carried out for another reason. Read more about thesymptoms of Paget's disease of bone.
Causes
Bone cells regenerate in a similar way to skin – old bone is removed and replaced by new bone. This is known as bone remodelling. 2 cells are responsible for this: osteoclasts – cells that absorb old boneosteoblasts – cells that make new bone In Paget's disease of bone, something goes wrong with the osteoclast cells and they start to absorb bone at a much faster rate than usual. The osteoblasts then try to produce new bone more quickly, but the new bone is larger and weaker than normal. It's not clear what triggers this, but you're at a higher risk if you have a family history of Paget's disease of bone. You may inherit a genetic fault that means you're much more likely to develop the condition. Paget's disease of bone can sometimes lead to further, potentially serious problems. These include: fragile bones that break more easily than normalosteoarthritis, which causes painful and stiff jointsenlarged or misshapen bonespermanenthearing loss(if the skull is affected)heart problemsin rare cases,bone cancer Read more about possiblecomplications of Paget's disease of bone.
Treatment
There's currently no cure for Paget's disease of bone, but treatment can help relieve the symptoms. If you do not have any symptoms, your doctor may suggest keeping an eye on your condition and delaying treatment until any problems occur. The main treatments are: bisphosphonate medication – medicines that help control bone regeneration and are used to control painsupportive therapies – includingphysiotherapy,occupational therapyand devices such as walking sticks or shoe insertssurgery – this may be needed if further problems develop, such as fractures, deformities or severe joint damage Ensuring you get enoughcalciumandvitamin Dcan also help. Some people may need to take supplements. Read more abouthow Paget's disease of bone is treated.
When to see a doctor
See your GP if you have: persistent bone or joint paindeformities in any of your bonessymptoms of a nerve problem, such as numbness, tingling or balance problems Your GP can organise tests to check your bones and look for problems such as Paget's disease of bone. Read more abouthow Paget's disease of bone is diagnosed.