Cholesterol drugs do not prevent fractures

Findings from a new study suggest that drugs commonly used to lower cholesterol levels do not protect older women from broken bones. Statins are currently the most popular type of drug used to treat high cholesterol. But in addition to this effect, there have been reports that the drugs may strengthen the bones of older people, making them less likely to break.Researchers from the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, based their study on 93,716 women who were followed for about 4 years. All of the women were beyond menopause. The women included 7,846 who used statins and 85,870 who did not. Rates of hip, lower arm or wrist, and other clinical fractures were compared among statin users and nonusers over the follow-up period.

They found that statin therapy did not prevent fractures of the hip, lower arm or wrist, or any other bone. The hazard ratios for current statin use were 1.22 for hip fracture, 1.04 for lower arm or wrist fracture, and 1.11 for other clinical fractures. Bone density (a measure of bone strength) levels did not statistically differ between statin users and nonusers at any skeletal site after adjustment for age, ethnicity, body mass index, and other factors. Statin use seemed to make fractures slightly more likely. The new findings add to a growing body of evidence that statins are not a useful treatment for osteoporosis (a bone thinning disease seen in older women that raises the risk of a fracture).