Celiac Disease and Reduced Bone Density
In the May 2015 Issue of Today’s Dietitian, Marsha McCulloch, MS, RD, LD speaks to Celiac Disease and Bone Health.
“10% of the people seen in our Celiac Disease Center were diagnosed with celiac disease because of reduced bone density. To say that reduced bone density is common in patients with celiac disease is an understatement.”
In this thoroughly annotated article, McCullough shares that celiac disease is associated with a 30% increased risk of any fracture and a 69% increased risk of hip fracture. Connections between celiac disease and bone disease, the relationship between nutrient intake and malabsorption, co-conditions such as hyperparathyroidism, and the impact of reduced level of tissue transglutaminase (tTg) can have on bone repair are among many reasons for this association.
Peter H.R. Green, MD, director of the Celiac Disease Center at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center and coauthor of Celiac Disease: A Hidden Epidemic indicates that, “tTg is an enzyme with important functions, including joining proteins together, which is important for bone remodeling.’
Further, a new scientific field of study referred to as osteoimmunology.13-15, Immune cells called T-cells produce certain cytokines that promote the formation of osteoclasts, which break down bone,” according to Matthew Greenblatt, MD, PhD, a resident in pathology at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. “When someone with celiac disease consumes gluten, the production of these cytokines is stimulated.”
Absorption testing after diagnosis may indicate the necessity of supplementation with calcium, magnesium, vitamins D & K and the B vitamins as a way to rebuild bone mass.
Read the complete article here.
