One of the best sites to find out “how stuff works” is howstuffworks.com. I go there all the time, and found out that they have an article on FOP.
This article is a straight-to-the-point summary on what FOP really is.
http://health.howstuffworks.com/fop.htm
One thing I thought was particularly interesting was the medications section:
Aminobiphosphonates are anti-angiogenic, which means that they prevent the formation of blood vessels, which bone tissue needs to grow. They also keep too much bone resorption from happening by shortening the life span of osteoclasts. You would think that decreased bone resorption would be a bad thing in FOP, but it turns out that it seems to help people. Doctors aren’t sure why.
So there is some medication that could potentially prevent new bone growth or at least manage the disease.
