Paget’s Disease: Another Threat to your Bone Health

Fosamax has always been among the most widely used drugs in the United States over the years. But, if you look back and ahead at Fosamax lawsuits, you can tell that drug and its manufacturer, Merck,  also had their own share of bad times. This, and other drugs on the same classification are considered as the osteoporosis’ first line of treatment. Furthermore this drug may also be given to another serious health problem known as Paget’s disease.

Paget’s disease, also known to many as osteitis deformans, is the next most prevalent bone disease after osteoporosis in the United States. Added to that, it rarely occurs in people younger than 40 years old and its ratio from male to female is 1.2:1. Although it can exist in different areas in the world, it occurs largely in European countries such England, France and Germany.

Paget’s disease is a localized and chronic disorder that can result in enlarged and misshapen bones. In the initial phase of Paget’s disease, the bone remodeling cycle loses equilibrium where bone resorption becomes faster due to the increasing  number of bone cells responsible for breaking down the bones. It then proceeds to a stage with heightened bone formation causing bones that are larger but weaker than usual.

Paget’s disease can affect any bone in the skeleton but has affinity to the long bones, spine, skull and the pelvis. In most cases, this disease shows no symptoms at all making most of us unaware that we already have the bone disorder. Others may exhibit manifestations which depends on the afflicted bone of the disease. 

If left alone, this condition can lead to serious problems. For Instance, Paget’s disease with skull involvement can ultimately lead to the following problems:

•  Deafness
•  Vertigo
•  Tinnitus
•  Dental malocclusion
•  Basilar invagination
•  Cranial nerve disorders

Oftentimes patients diagnosed with Paget’s disease are treated with bone-strengthening drugs such as Fosamax or other bisphosphonates. However, there are findings suggesting that the use of Fosamax may put you at risk for serious problems including atypical fractures of the thigh bone. A significant number of people claiming to have been laid up by the long term effects of the drug are now determined to file a Fosamax lawsuit against Merck.

References:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paget's_disease_of_bone

http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/334607-overview

http://www.rightdiagnosis.com/p/pagetbone/stats.htm