Anyone who has heard the term "Paget's Disease-, yet is not sure what it is, should find the information on this research paper helpful in attaining that knowledge. This paper will attempt to answer some of those questions and an obvious question might first ask for a description of the disease itself. .
Paget's disease is the most common metabolic bone disorder in the United States, second only to osteoporosis. Yet, it often goes unrecognized and untreated until it is in an advanced stage. First described by Sir James Paget in 1877, the disease is a disorder of bone remodeling, or turnover, in which there is excessive resorption (bone failure) followed by excessive but structurally inferior new bone formation. Paget's disease occurs in men and women fairly equally, and is more common in people over 50 years old. It affects 1.2% to 4% of Americans above the age of 50, and as many as 10% of those over 80 (Lindgren). Although Paget's disease and osteoporosis can occur in the same patient, they are completely different disorders. Despite their marked differences, several treatments for Paget's disease are also used to treat osteoporosis (NIH ORBD).
A good question would want to know what causes this disease to remain out of bone homeostasis. The New England Journal of Medicine recently wrote "Research has shown that a bone disease called juvenile Paget's disease can be caused by a mutation in the gene for a protein called osteoprotegerin- (Krane). No one knows for sure what causes Paget's disease, although genetics may play a role. Several studies indicate that 15 to 30 percent of Paget's patients have family members with the disease. Those with a first-degree relative "parent, sibling or child "with Paget's disease are seven times more likely to develop the disease than those without an affected first-degree relative (Kurtzweil). "It clearly runs in the family,"" says Ethel Siris, M.