‘Statin’ drugs reduce fracture risk in men

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Men who take a
cholesterol-lowering ‘statin’ drug (such as Lipitor or Zocor,
for example) may be protecting more than their heart. A large
study comprised mostly of elderly men shows that the drugs
reduce the risk of suffering a bone fracture.

Previous research investigating the link between statins
and fracture risk, conducted primarily among women, has yielded
mixed results.

The current study, reported in the Archives of Internal
Medicine by Dr. Richard E. Scranton and his colleagues,
represents one of the largest studies to date. The roughly
91,000 subjects — approximately 95 percent men — were drawn
from patients receiving care in the New England VA Health
System between 1998 and 2001.

Among the participants, 28,063 were prescribed statins,
2195 were on some other type of lipid-lowering medication, and
60,794 were not prescribed any lipid-lowering medications.

In analyses that took account of age, weight, whether or
not the individual had the bone thinning condition osteoporosis
and other disorders, and other medications, the investigators
found that taking statins was associated with a 36 percent
reduction in fracture risk compared with taking no
lipid-lowering therapy, and a 32 percent risk reduction
compared with non-statin lipid-lowering therapy.

Scranton, from Harvard Medical School in Boston, and his
colleagues also evaluated outcomes among subjects first
prescribed statins during the study period. When stratified by
dose, those taking the highest amounts were 50 percent less
likely to suffer a fracture than those taking the lowest doses.

Further studies looking into the connection between statins
and protection against fractures are needed, the investigators
maintain, since “the potential public health impact is too
great to leave this question unanswered.”

SOURCE: Archives of Internal Medicine, September 26, 2005.