840 patients from Washington University Bone Clinic (Missouri) were tested for celiac disease. 266 had osteoporosis and 574 did not.
1% of the control population had celiac disease. From this, one might infer that 3 million Americans (1%) have celiac disease.
Of the 266 osteo patients, 4.5% (12 people) blood-tested positive for celiac disease. Biopsy testing was then done on 10 of the 12 blood-positive. 9 of 10 biopsies confirmed the blood test.
There is controversy about the best way to test for celiac disease. The blood test is cheap and easy and usually more effective than the biopsy.
"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," say the authors of the study. "If the prevalence of celiac disease among the osteoporotic population is 3.4%, it would cost about $1500 to identify a celiac disease patient by serologic screening."
http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/500474
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/4306133.stm