He said his oldest living patient was 104 who was diagnosed at the age of 98. He explained how misdiagnosis was still quite common. He had seen patients diagnosed as having had bone infection where no bone infection actually occurred. A bone crisis can look very much like a bone infection. Whenever he takes on a new patient, he requires a full set of body X-rays for comparison purposes.
Bones get thin, they lose calcium and become weak.
Areas of missing calcium are found in dead bone. The marrow dies and bones can break. When the bone dies, pressure builds up and a painful bone crisis can occur. He said that only rarely was there significant liver disfunction in Gauchers patients. On the other hand, one of his patients was in a wheelchair with severe bone involvement but did not have enlarged organs.