Statins and osteoporosis

NEW YORK, June 26 (Praxis Press) Experimental evidence has shown that the cholesterol-lowering statin drugs may increase bone formation. Chan and colleagues undertook a population-based case-control study at six health-maintenance organizations in the USA to investigate the relationship between statin use and fracture risk among older women. They selected 928 women over 60 years of age who had non-pathological fracture of the hip, humerus, distal tibia, wrist, or vertebrae and compared their statin use to 2747 controls. They found that women with 13 or more statin dispensings during this period had a decreased risk of non-pathological fracture. Statins may protect against non-pathological fracture among older women.