Another Statin Benefit – Fewer Fractures

Four years ago came the first hint that statin drugs may help with preventing osteoporosis. It was an Australian study done in women. Confirmation of the effect comes in the form of a study reported in the Archives of Internal Medicine. Patients who visited the Massachusetts US Veterans Affairs healthcare system annually over a 3-year period were included. Out of 90,000 of them, 28,000 were taking statins, 2,000 were taking a different sort of medication for high cholesterol or triglycerides, and 60,000 were taking neither. Nine out of ten of the patients were men. All fractures during the 3 years were recorded.

After allowing for possible factors that might bias the result, it was found that statin use was linked to a 36%reduction in the risk of fracture compared to no lipid-lowering therapy, and 32% when compared to non-statin lipid lowering therapy. The fractures affected were vertebral, hip, and other sites.

The authors suggest the mechanism of the effect might include a reduction in inflammation that can lead to bone loss, or inhibition of a biochemical pathway causing increased bone production. Whatever, it’s a convincing result – a side-benefit, as opposed to an adverse side-effect. But it’s not really a sufficient reason for a physician to prescribe a statin in the first place . . .