Mounting evidence linking the gastrointestinal (GI) tract with the development of osteoporosis has led to recent calls for gastroenterologists to get more involved in the fight against osteoporosis and for GI risk factors to feature more prominently in osteoporosis prevention guidelines.
Osteoporosis has become a major public health issue throughout the world, with an estimated 1.6 m fractures per year attributed to the condition. Osteoporosis can develop as a result of malabsorption of nutrients or maldigestion in conditions such as coeliac disease or atrophic gastritis, or as a secondary effect of treatments including gastric bypass surgery, corticosteroids and proton pump inhibitors (PPIs). In coeliac disease, which is one of the most common underdiagnosed genetic based conditions, up to 75% of newly diagnosed adults have significantly reduced bone mineral density at the time of diagnosis.
