Stereotyping may highlight diagnoses that might be missed

EDITOR—One of the important functions of medical practitioners, who frequently have contact with people from other parts of the world, is to be aware of the geographical distribution of diseases so that otherwise treatable conditions are not ignored. In a country such as the United Kingdom where osteomalacia might not be common, it would help rather than hinder to consider “Asian osteomalacia” and then work around it.1 The patient in case 2 in Sheikh et al's Lesson of the Week definitely had vitamin D deficiency; Paget's disease happened to be incidental. No harm was done to this patient by labelling.

Asian osteomalacia is not a single diagnostic entity. The term simply attempts to highlight a clinical possibility that might be overlooked in a less familiar environment. Sanitising terminologies that mean well would have only a detrimental impact.