Paget's Disease of Bone and Its Symptoms and Treatment

Paget's disease of bone is a condition that causes the bones to be larger and weaker than what is typical. It may affect only one bone or a few. Paget's disease is the second most common metabolic bone condition after osteoporosis.

Paget's disease of bone accelerates the normal process of regrowing new bone. The abnormal growth causes deformities and bones that are prone to fractures. Paget's disease can often go completely without symptoms and inadvertently might be detected only through an X-ray or surgery performed for a different reason.

This article discusses Paget's disease of the bone, its symptoms, and what causes it. It also goes over how the condition is diagnosed and treated.

Paget's Disease Symptoms

Paget's disease of bone might not have any symptoms at all. Most patients never know they have it and only through diagnostic tests that are looking for other medical conditions do healthcare providers discover the disease.

However, there are patients who have complaints from Paget's disease. These include:

• Pain in the hips, legs, or arms
• Headaches, hearing loss, or visual changes when it affects the bones of the skull
• Numbness, tingling, or weakness in the arms and legs from bone growth compressing nerves
• Osteoarthritis
• Bowing or deformity of the legs or arms
• Growths or deformity of the skull

If you experience a new onset of pain or weakness in an arm or leg, you should make an appointment with a healthcare provider or healthcare professional for an evaluation to determine the cause and appropriate treatment.

What Causes Paget's Disease of the Bone?

Medical experts don't really know how Paget's disease is acquired or what causes it to develop. Scientists suggest that the causes are a combination of both genetic and environmental factors, with some theories reporting a possible association with exposure to a virus.

The genetic component is thought to make the patient vulnerable to the disease while the environmental trigger causes the disease to affect the patient. Another theory is that the disease is caused entirely by a virus, although that is a less popular opinion.

There is a hereditary component and Paget's disease of bone is more common for people of northern European descent. It is a bit more common in men than women and unusual in people before reaching the age of 40.

The prevalence of Paget's disease of bone has been decreasing in recent years. Some scientists have associated this with the development of vaccines for certain types of viruses, including measles. However, this has not been definitively proven.

How Paget's Disease of the Bone is Diagnosed

Some patients are diagnosed incidentally when getting a diagnostic test for another reason. If you are having symptoms, your healthcare provider will most likely order X-rays and possibly a bone scan, also known as bone scintigraphy, to look for growths and tumors caused by the disease.

Your healthcare provider may order a lab test to determine the levels of alkaline phosphatase in your blood. Elevated levels indicate the active presence of metabolic diseases such as Paget's disease of bone.

Treatment

Depending on symptoms, treatment ranges from monitoring to the use of bisphosphonates, the same class of medications used for the treatment of osteoporosis. Your healthcare provider will likely order treatment if you are experiencing pain or discomfort.

If symptoms are severe enough, surgery might be indicated to correct areas where bone growth is encroaching on other functions.

Coping With Paget's Disease

There is no cure for Paget's disease of bone. Your healthcare provider may prescribe treatment to manage the condition or you might be able to continue without changes.

Many patients with Paget's disease of bone live their entire lives without knowing they have the condition. If you have Paget's disease, even without symptoms, you may be more susceptible to fractures and have an increased risk of bleeding if a bone is broken.

It is important to reduce chances of falling by modifying your home environment to reduce risk, and by getting plenty of exercise focusing on strength, balance, and mobility. You can optimize bone health by eating a proper diet including plenty of calcium and vitamin D, but check with your healthcare provider before taking supplements if you have a history of kidney stones.

Summary

Paget's disease of bone is one of the most common metabolic bone conditions. It affects the speed at which bones regenerate and can lead to bones that are larger and weaker than normal.

You can have Paget's disease of the bone for years and not realize it. It is possible to get a diagnosis of Paget's disease of bone even though you haven't had any symptoms.