Distribution of Paget's disease in England, Wales and Scotland and a possible relationship with vitamin D deficiency in childhood.

Within England, Wales, and Scotland there are regional variations in hospital discharge rates for Paget's disease (osteitis deformans). Successive cohorts born after the 1880s show a progressive fall in mortality from Paget's disease. Because of the epidemiological similarity between the disease and rickets it is suggested that vitamin D deficiency in childhood may be a predisposing influence.