Genetic Diseases Related with Osteoporosis

Primary osteoporosis is the disease’s most common form and results from the progressive loss of bone mass related to aging and unassociated with other illness, a natural process in adult life; its etiology is considered multifactorial and polygenic. This form currently represents a growing worldwide health problem due in part, to the contemporary environmental condi‐ tions of modern civilization. Risk factors that are considered as “modifiable” also play an important role and include physical activity, dietary habits and eating disorders. Furthermore, there is another group of associated risk factors that are considered “non-modifiable”, including gender, age, race, a personal and/or family history of fractures that in turn, indirectly reflect the degree of genetic susceptibility to this disease [2-4]. Secondary osteoporosis encompasses a large heterogeneous group of primary conditions favoring osteoporosis development. Table 1 summarizes some of the disease entities associated to primary and secondary osteoporosis.