Paget’s disease is a chronic bone disease of the skeleton. In a healthy bone, a process known as remodeling begins to remove old parts of bone and replace them with fresh bone. Paget’s disease causes the new, fresh bone to grow abnormally in shape and be weak and brittle. It is a disease that more often affects older individuals and can occur in the legs, spine, pelvis and skull.
Individuals with Paget’s disease of the bone often may have no noticeable symptoms. However, if they do experience symptoms, it is often bone pain. As this disease causes the body to create new bone at an accelerated rate, the remodeling generates weaker, softer bone, which can lead to bone pain, fractures and deformities. The disease may only affect one or two areas of the body or it can become widespread. Common signs and symptoms are often based on which area of the body the disease is affecting. This includes: