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Archaeological skeletons support a northwest European origin for Paget's disease of bone
Author(s) -
Mays Simon
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
journal of bone and mineral research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.882
H-Index - 241
eISSN - 1523-4681
pISSN - 0884-0431
DOI - 10.1002/jbmr.64
Subject(s) - protein data bank (rcsb pdb) , geography , archaeology , paget's disease of bone , etiology , geographic variation , genetic data , genealogy , history , disease , biology , demography , medicine , pathology , population , sociology , biochemistry
Abstract The strong genetic component in the etiology of Paget's disease of bone (PDB), together with marked geographic variation in its prevalence, with high frequencies in British populations, has led some to suggest that the disease originated in Britain and spread around the world in recent times by the migration and admixture of British populations. This study aims to investigate this hypothesis by studying the world geographic distribution of PDB cases identified in ancient skeletons excavated from archaeological sites. The methodology is a review of PDB cases described in the literature. There were 109 cases that met modern diagnostic criteria. All came from Western Europe, 94% from England. These data support the hypothesis that PDB originated in this geographic region. © 2010 American Society for Bone and Mineral Research