Michael J. Econs and a distinguished team of internationally renowned experts summarize and review the latest understanding of the genetics of osteoporosis and metabolic bone disease. Topics range from an examination of the genetic contributions to osteoporosis and the many factors that must be considered when searching for genes that predispose to osteoporosis, to recent advances in the clinical and molecular biological aspects of inherited metabolic disorders. The diseases covered are both single-gene (Mendelian) traits - such as X-linked hypophosphatemic rickets - and such complex disorders as osteoporosis and Paget's disease. The book includes a discussion of current methodology for finding genes that predispose to metabolic bone diseases. Authoritative and state-of-the-art, The Genetics of Osteoporosis and Metabolic Bone Disease offers today's endocrinologists, rheumatologists, and geneticists a gold-standard compendium of current knowledge and thinking about the genetic disorders of bone and mineral metabolism, and a sound basis for powerful new genetic therapies.