Other Secondary Causes of Osteoporosis

Secondary causes of osteoporosis are very common, particularly in premenopausal women and in men with osteoporosis, while also being the cause of accelerated bone loss in postmenopausal and age-related osteoporosis. “Secondary causes of osteoporosis” represent the collection of heterogeneous underlying diseases and medications that may contribute to bone loss and increase bone fragility through a number of different mechanisms independently of age or estrogen deficiency. This chapter focuses on systemic inflammatory diseases other than rheumatic diseases, systemic mastocytosis, and endocrine disorders as underlying contributory mechanism for bone loss and/or increased bone fragility in patients with osteoporosis. The ubiquitous nature of “secondary osteoporosis” suggests that diverse medical disciplines need to better interact to meet some of the challenges presented by osteoporosis as a chronic comorbidity of specific disease entities. Screening for secondary causes of osteoporosis should represent an intrinsic part of the optimal management of any patient with osteoporosis.