Paget’s Awareness Day

Today’s blog is to raise awareness on Paget’s Disease.  

A bit of history . . .

Sir James Paget was a British surgeon and surgical pathologist who worked at St. Bartholomew’s Hospital in London. This was in the 1800’s.  Paget is known for finding the parasite that causes trichinosis.  In addition, he discovered this disease of bone tissue.

Your bone tissue usually has old bone tissue replaced with new.  A sign of Paget’s disease is when this pattern gets disrupted.  This disruption causes an excessive breakdown of bone tissue weakening and excessive bone formation.

If you have this disease your bones can become deformed and brittle so they can fracture.  The most common parts of the body affected are the spine, skull, pelvis and femur.

Some Statistics  . . .

This disease affects about 2%-7% of people in Western Europe and North America who are of Northern European descent.  It usually affects people over the age of 55.   Asian or African descent are not usually affected.

Some helpful information  . . .

There are no known cures for Paget’s disease of the bone but there are some medications that can inhibit bone cell activity.  You should get regular exercise and make sure you take adequate daily amounts of calcium and Vitamin D.

In 1973, a British woman named Ann Stansfield founded Paget’s Association.  Her husband contracted the disease and she wanted to raise awareness.  The other goals of this UK charity is to get research funds and offer support to those with the disease.   

Private Home Health Care is thankful that this disease does not affect a lot of people but we believe it is important to share information.  There are those who must deal with it however and we believe knowledge is always better.  

Here is a link to the Paget’s Association:  https://paget.org.uk/