TODAY IS INTERNATIONAL PAGETS AWARENESS DAY…

INTERNATIONAL PAGET’S AWARENESS DAY – 11^th January – The 11th January is International Paget’s Awareness Day and for 2023, we will be focusing on Paget’s disease around the globe. International Paget’s Awareness Day 2021 focused on the important topic of treatment, its history and the research changing how Paget’s disease may be managed in the future.

Paget’s disease affects the normal repair and renewal process of bone. Throughout life, bone is renewed and repaired through a process called bone remodelling. Paget’s disease is characterised by abnormalities in this process. The affected bone is renewed and repaired at an increased rate, adversely affecting the bone’s structure. Bone affected by Paget’s disease may be enlarged and misshapen.

Bones affected by Paget’s disease may become deformed or fractured over time. Paget’s disease most frequently manifests itself in the skeletal system, specifically the spine, skull, pelvis, and femur.

Treatment for bone pain often begins with a diagnosis from a chance x-ray, blood test, or bone scan. We are more likely to contract the disease if we are older or have a family history of it.

Other symptoms may include damage to cartilage, pressure on the nerves, headaches or hearing loss, hip pain, or increased curvature of the spine, as stated by MedlinePlus.

Paget’s disease can result in a variety of secondary health complications, including osteosarcoma, kidney stones, heart failure, arthritis, and vision loss, in addition to issues affecting the nervous system.

Paget’s disease can occur in any bone, often causes no symptoms and may be found by chance. For those with symptoms, these may include pain, deformity and fracture. Either single or multiple bones may be affected with common sites being the spine, skull, pelvis and thigh (femur).

The risk of developing Paget’s disease increases with age and it is most commonly diagnosed in those over 50 years. Paget’s disease is the second most common metabolic bone disease after osteoporosis. Approximately 1% of people in the UK, over the age of 55 years, are thought to be affected. The condition is also common in other European countries such as France, Spain and Italy and in people of European descent who have emigrated to other regions of the world, such as Australia, New Zealand, the United States of America and Canada.