Twelve of the 266 patients with osteoporosis and six of those without osteoporosis tested positive by serological screening for celiac disease, the researchers found. Nine patients with osteoporosis (3.4 percent) and one of those without osteoporosis (0.2 percent) had biopsy-proven celiac disease. Further, the authors write, ".the more severe the celiac disease, the more severe the resulting osteoporosis."

"Treatment with a gluten-free diet for a year resulted in improved BMD in individuals with celiac disease and osteoporosis," the authors write. "The improvement in BMD for celiac disease patients on the gluten-free diet was greater than that expected for osteoporotic patients receiving standard therapy."

"In conclusion, we found that the prevalence of celiac disease among osteoporotic patients was much higher than among the nonosteoporotic population and high enough to justify a recommendation that all individuals with osteoporosis undergo serologic screening for celiac disease," the researchers state. ".individuals with positive serological screening should be evaluated with endoscopy and small-intestine mucosal biopsy to establish the diagnosis of celiac disease. Treatment of these individuals with a gluten-free diet will improve their BMD."

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