1 Introduction to the study of metabolic bone diseases

The first chapter provides an introduction to The Bioarchaeology of Metabolic Bone Disease, Second Edition, setting out the conditions covered: scurvy, rickets and osteomalacia, age-related-bone loss and osteoporosis, secondary osteoporosis, Paget’s disease of bone, anaemia, and approaches to recognising disease co-occurrence; conditions in the metabolic syndrome and pellagra are considered alongside widely evaluated metabolic bone diseases. The effects of the various conditions are touched on, with key information set out on their role in health in a global context today and what is known of the past occurrence. Information is provided on the structure and format of this edition.