For a patient diagnosed with Paget disease or hypercalcemia of malignancy, what medication is typically administered?

Paget disease and hypercalcemia of malignancy are conditions that involve abnormal bone metabolism and elevated calcium levels, respectively. Bisphosphonates are the preferred treatment in these cases because they effectively inhibit osteoclast-mediated bone resorption, which is typically increased in both conditions.

In Paget disease, bisphosphonates reduce bone turnover, helping to alleviate pain and prevent complications associated with excessive bone remodeling. In hypercalcemia of malignancy, bisphosphonates contribute to lowering serum calcium levels by suppressing the osteolytic activity of malignant cells that lead to increased bone breakdown.

Other treatments, while they may have roles in managing calcium levels or bone health, do not offer the same level of efficacy in these particular conditions. For instance, calcium gluconate is typically used to treat hypocalcemia rather than hypercalcemia and does not address the underlying bone metabolism issues in Paget disease. Calcitonin can lower calcium levels, but its effect is generally weaker than that of bisphosphonates and it is not the first-line treatment for these specific conditions. Vitamin D is involved in calcium metabolism but is not utilized to manage these diseases directly.

Thus, the use of bisphosphonates in both Pag