Effect of calcitonin treatment on the natural course of bone demineralization in Paget's disease.

Numerous studies have been done to determine the effects of long term calcitonin (CT) treatment on Paget's disease of bone, but very few studies have been undertaken to determine the long term CT effect on nonpagetic bone in man. Because of conflicting results of the CT effect on osteoporosis and also for further understanding of the role of CT on normal bone, we conducted a longitudinal prospective study on the effect of CT treatment on nonpagetic bone in patients with Paget's disease using monoenergetic photon absorptionmetry method. Patients with Paget's disease were given salmon CT daily for a period of 3 yr, the bone mineral content (BMC) in the nonpagetic distal radius was measured periodically for 3 yr, and the data were compared with those of the control group of patients with Paget's disease not receiving CT treatment. It was found that the control group showed a persistent gradual decrease in BMC during the study period of 3 yr, but the CT-treated group showed no decrease in BMC during the 3-yr period of treatment. Our study suggests that CT treatment may delay the natural course of bone demineralization with aging in patients with Paget's disease.