Pagets Disease (Osteitis Deformans) - Medtick

Pagets Disease (Osteitis Deformans)

What is it?

Paget’s disease is a bone disorder.

Bones in your body continuously break down and form again in a natural and tightly balanced process called bone re-modelling.

  • This bone re-modelling also occurs in response to stress or injury placed on the bone. For example, weight-bearing exercise leads to increased bone formation.
  • In Paget’s disease, more bone breaks down than usual and more new bone forms than usual.
  • These changes in the bone can lead to bone enlargement and deformity.
  • The new bone growth tends to be softer and more fragile than normal bone, and can develop in a haphazard pattern.
  • Because of this, the bone can fracture.
  • The long bones, especially the legs, tend to bow, and the skull may enlarge, particularly over the forehead.

Harvard health publications 

  • Hence Pagets disease is a long term bone disorder causing the bone not to develop properly resulting in large misshapen abnormal, less dense, brittle, prone to breakage, fractured bone.
  • The method the way the bone grows is affected and causing an increase in calcium levels in the blood that can lead to osteoporosis.
  • It can occur anywhere in the body and symptoms depend on where affected.
    Common areas include spine, thigh bone, pelvis, collarbone, upper arm bone and skull.
  • Symptoms do not always appear until an x-ray and/or blood test  is done
  • Mainly older people get the condition though a rare child condition called Juvenile Paget’s Diseasecan also occur
Paget disease can also affect the nipple and is associated with breast cancer.

Cause

  • Unknown, maybe:
    • Viral condition

Symptoms

  • Bone pain (especially in the back, hips and knees)?
  • Bone deformity [bowing of the thighs (femurs) and lower legs (tibias)]?
  • Big bones (including head) and/or bone growth (spur) causing tingling and numbness locally?
  • Joint stiffness and pain?
  • Osteoporosis?

Paget’s disease of the skull (one has the above symptoms)

  • Headache which is on and off or a constant headache longer than 24 hours?
  • Sensitivity to every day noise and/or ringing noise within and/or difficulty hearing?

Complications /Information to beware of/General tips:

Medical Emergency Condition

And/or do not wait, phone for an ambulance if have or develop:

  • Numbness in joints
  • Blurred vision
  • Bleeding of the nipple

This condition can lead to:


This condition may show similar symptoms to:

Please talk to your healthcare professional (i.e. Medical Doctor/Pharmacist) for further advice

Detailed Information

Please copy and paste any key words from the title: Pagets Disease (Osteitis Deformans) in the following respective 'Medtick References and/or Sources' to find out more about the disease (this also may include diagnosis tests and generic medical treatments).