| NIHSeniorHealth Adds Information on Paget’s
Disease of Bone
Our bones are living tissue, and our bodies are constantly replacing
old bone with new bone. In Paget's disease, however, old bone is
broken down and replaced at a faster rate than normal. Typically,
Paget’s disease occurs in just one or a few bones. The new bone
is larger and weaker than normal bone, resulting in bone pain,
fractures and arthritis in the joints near the affected bones.
Information about Paget’s disease of bone, which affects an estimated
one million older Americans, has been added to NIHSeniorHealth
(www.NIHSeniorHealth.gov).
This Web site, which was designed especially for older adults,
is a joint effort of the National Institute on Aging (NIA) and
the National Library of Medicine (NLM), which are part of the National
Institutes of Health (NIH).
“The good news is that Paget’s disease of bone is treatable, especially
if it is diagnosed early,” says Stephen I. Katz, M.D., Ph.D., director
of the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and
Skin Diseases (NIAMS), which developed the content for the Paget’s
disease topic on NIHSeniorHealth. “Information about diagnosis
and treatment that can stop or slow the disease's progression is
easily accessible on NIHSeniorHealth.”
Older Americans increasingly are turning to the Internet for health
information. In fact, 66 percent of “wired” seniors surf for health
and medical information when they go online. NIHSeniorHealth, which
is based on the latest research on cognition and aging, features
short, easy-to-read segments of information in a variety of formats,
including large-print type sizes, open-captioned videos and even
an audio version. Additional topics coming soon to the site include
clinical trials, nutrition and falls. The site links to MedlinePlus,
NLM’s premier, more detailed site for consumer health information.
The NIA leads the federal effort supporting and conducting
research on aging and the health and well-being of older people.
The NLM, the world's largest library of the health sciences,
creates and sponsors Web-based health information resources for
the public and professionals. The NIAMS supports research into
the causes, treatment and prevention of arthritis and musculoskeletal
and skin diseases. All three institutes are components of the
NIH in Bethesda, Maryland.
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) — The Nation's
Medical Research Agency — includes 27 Institutes and
Centers and is a component of the U.S. Department of Health and
Human Services. It is the primary federal agency for conducting
and supporting basic, clinical and translational medical research,
and it investigates the causes, treatments, and cures for both
common and rare diseases. For more information about NIH and
its programs, visit www.nih.gov. |
