Disease co-occurrence

Abstract When two or more pathological conditions exist at the same time and are thought likely to be causally related they are described as co-occurring; such relationships are especially pertinent to some of the metabolic bone diseases. The presence of one condition may potentially modify the manifestation of another, accentuating the difficulties of diagnosing disease form skeletal lesions Guidance on diagnosis is provided as in co-occurrence the approach outlined in Chapter 2, and consideration of the basic biological mechanisms that underlie lesion formation discussed in Chapter 3, are particularly important for understanding lesions. Looking beyond diagnosis of single conditions offers a means of obtaining greater understanding of health in past communities and conditions in the metabolic syndrome, neoplastic disease and pellagra are considered. A series of bullet points are used to summarise the core concepts covered.