Paget's disease - Symptoms, causes and treatment

Paget's disease or Paget's disease is a disruption to the process regeneration bone. This disease could causes bones to become brittle and bent. Paget's disease most commonly occurs in the pelvis, bone skull, spine, and leg bones.

Normal bone cells are always undergoing a process of replacement or regeneration. Old bone will be absorbed by bone cells called osteoclasts, and replaced by new bone cells by osteoblast cells.

Paget's disease occurs when osteoclasts are more active than osteoblasts, so more bone tissue is reabsorbed than formed. This condition causes bones to grow abnormally, weak, and brittle.

Symptoms of Paget's Disease

Paget's disease puts bones at greater risk of fracture, fracture, or deformity. Most people with Paget's disease do not experience any symptoms. However, there are also sufferers who feel pain in certain body parts, depending on which bone is affected.

Paget's disease can occur in only one part of the body or several parts of the body at once. Apart from pain, Paget's disease can also cause the following symptoms, depending on the part of the body that is affected:

• Skull

  Abnormalities in the process of formation of the skull bone can cause sufferers to experience headaches to hearing loss.

• Spine

  If this disease affects the spine, the spinal cord can be compressed. This condition causes pain, tingling, and numbness in the arm or leg.

• Bone limbs

  Paget's disease, which affects the bones of the limbs, can cause the legs to become crooked.

When to go to the doctor

Patients need to see a doctor if they experience pain in the bones and joints, tingling and numbness in the tips of the fingers and toes, changes in bone shape, or decreased ability to hear for no apparent reason.

Paget's disease It is a chronic or chronic disease. Therefore, the sufferer needs to regularly check with the doctor to monitor the progress of the disease, including after treatment by a doctor.

Causes of Paget's Disease

Until now, the exact cause of Paget's disease is not known. However, there are several factors that can increase a person's risk of developing this disease, namely:

• Have a family member with Paget's disease.
• Age 40 years and over.
• Male gender.
• Often exposed to pollution from the environment, such as dust, air, or chemicals.

Diagnosing Paget's Disease

In diagnosing Paget's disease, the doctor will first ask the patient's symptoms, then perform a physical examination to determine which part of the body feels pain.

Next, the doctor will ask the patient to undergo a series of supporting tests to detect Paget's disease. Supporting tests include:

• X-rays, to see if the bones look enlarged, thickened, or bent.
• Bone scan, to see the parts of the bone affected by Paget's disease in more detail.
• Blood test, to determine alkaline phosphatase levels. Typically, people with Paget's disease have higher levels of alkaline phosphatase.
• Bone biopsy, to confirm that the disease is indeed Paget's disease. A bone biopsy is performed by taking a sample of bone cells for later examination in a laboratory.

Paget's Disease Treatment

People with Paget's disease who do not feel symptoms do not need special treatment, only regular monitoring. However, if Paget's disease is active and affects a dangerous area, such as the skull or spine, the doctor will recommend the following treatments:

Drugs

• Bisphosphonates, to inhibit overactive osteoclasts in patients with Paget's disease.
• Calcitonin, to regulate calcium levels and bone metabolism. This drug is only given if the patient is not compatible with bisphosphonate drugs.
• Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), such as ibuprofen or diclofenac, to relieve pain.

Operation

The type of surgery performed depends on the bone disorder experienced by the patient. The purpose of surgery can be to help the fractured bone heal, improve the position of the bone, reduce pressure on nerves, or replace damaged joints.

Surgical procedures that can be performed by orthopedic doctors to treat Paget's disease include:

• Internal fixation (pen surgery), to place the bone in its proper position.
• Osteotomy, which is a bone surgery procedure performed by removing damaged bone cells to relieve pain, and to improve the position of bones and joints.
• Joint replacement, to replace the damaged joint with an artificial joint (prosthesis) made of metal, plastic, or ceramic.

Complications of Paget's Disease

Paget's disease progresses slowly. Even so, this bone disorder can cause a number of complications, such as:

• Osteoarthritis

  Bone deformities can increase the pressure on surrounding joints, leading to osteoarthritis.

• Difficulty walking

  Leg bones can become bent, making it difficult for sufferers to walk.

• Trepeat cracked or broken

  Affected bone Paget's disease easier to crack and break. This condition also causes abnormalities in the blood vessels around the bones.

• Hypercalcemia

  The rapid breakdown of bone in Paget's disease can cause an increase in calcium levels in the blood.

• Nervous disorders

  The abnormal growth of the spine and skull due to Paget's disease can cause compression and damage to the nerves. This can cause tingling in the hands or feet and loss of hearing.

• Heart failure

  Paget's disease, which affects many areas of the body, makes the heart work harder to pump blood. The increase in the workload of the heart can cause heart failure.

• Bone cancer

  About 1% of people with Paget's disease are at risk of developing bone cancer.

Prevention of Paget's Disease

It is not known exactly how to prevent Paget's disease. However, you can maintain healthy bones and joint movement (mobility) by getting enough calcium and vitamin D, and exercising regularly.

If you already have Paget's disease, see your doctor regularly to monitor your condition. Doctors may suggest periodic X-ray examinations of the affected bones. This aims to ensure that the bone does not experience complications.

To prevent complications, people with Paget's disease can do the following:

• Using a stick or walker, to make it easier to walk and avoid falling.
• Get rid of slippery mats and replace them with non-slip mats, so they don't slip and fall.
• Installing handrails (handrail) in the toilet and on the stairs, so as not to slip and fall.
• Install orthotics or shoe soles made of plastic, to support the feet so they don't fall off easily.
• wearing braces which supports the spine in the correct position, if Paget's disease affects the spine.