A LEADING consultant is spearheading an awareness campaign of a painful condition which affects up to 5,000 people in Bolton.

Dr Keatley Adams has joined forces with a national charity to hold a public meeting on Paget's Disease of the Bone at the Royal Bolton Hospital's education department on November 20 at 7pm.

The orthopaedic consultant hopes to spread the word about the little-known condition, which is estimated to affect between 2,000 and 5,000 people in Bolton.

Symptoms include pain in the bones and can cause deafness if it strikes in the skull. People over the age of 55 are most commonly affected.

Dr Adams is hoping to set up a local support network for sufferers and is taking part in a nationwide study of the disease, which is often detected by blood tests.

He said: "There have been great steps made in treatment, which consists of tablets. We want people to be aware of this and to take part in a trial. There needs to be more research done and a public meeting will be the first step towards setting up a support group."

The National Association for the Relief of Paget's Disease, based in Walkden, is backing Dr Adams's calls.

Marilyn McCallum, director of the charity, said: " It is at the opposite end of osteoporosis, the brittle bone disease. With Paget's Disease the bones look strong, but they aren't. It's rather like a stone wall without the mortar. When you lean on it, it crumbles.

"The disease is an enigma and the society has been campaigning for the past 30 years to raise awareness."

Bolton is one of the hotspots for the condition and Mrs McCallum said no-one knows exactly why. "There are two reasons put forward as to the cause the disease. One is viral and the other is genetic," she said.

"We know it seems more prevalent in white people, but we also have West Indian and Asian sufferers in our membership."

The charity, founded by a Bury woman, Ann Stansfield, whose husband suffered from Paget's Disease for 27 years, is hoping that a local support group will start up in Bolton.

For further information contact the society on 0161 799 4646 or log onto their website: www.paget.org.uk/about.htm