This Article  • Full text  • PDF  • Send to a friend  • Save in My Folder  • Save to citation manager  • Permissions  Citing Articles  • Citation map  • Citing articles on HighWire  • Citing articles on ISI (41)  • Contact me when this article is cited  Related Content  • Related articles  • Similar articles in JAMA  Topic Collections  • Osteoporosis  • Aging/ Geriatrics  • Alert me on articles by topic

Steven R. Cummings, MD; Douglas C. Bauer, MD

JAMA. 2000;283:3255-3257.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

Two articles in this issue of THE JOURNAL^1-2 report that 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A (HMG CoA) reductase inhibitors (statins) that reduce blood cholesterol levels and the risk of cardiovascular disease³ also might substantially reduce the risk of fractures. The studies are impressively large and well done, and some clinicians might be tempted to prescribe statins in the hope of preventing or treating osteoporosis. However, these are observational studies, not randomized trials, and they do not provide enough certainty for clinicians to begin prescribing statins to reduce fracture risk.

The bone-forming potential of statins was uncovered by Mundy and colleagues⁴ in the course of screening thousands of chemicals for the ability to increase the synthesis of bone morphogenic protein 2, a growth factor that causes osteoblasts to proliferate, mature, and form new bone. Mundy et al⁴ then showed that 5 days of lovastatin or . . . [Full Text of this Article]

Author Affiliations: Departments of Medicine, and Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of California, San Francisco.

RELATED ARTICLES

HMG-CoA Reductase Inhibitors and the Risk of Fractures
Christoph R. Meier, Raymond G. Schlienger, Marius E. Kraenzlin, Brigitta Schlegel, and Hershel Jick
JAMA. 2000;283(24):3205-3210.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

HMG-CoA Reductase Inhibitors and the Risk of Hip Fractures in Elderly Patients
Philip S. Wang, Daniel H. Solomon, Helen Mogun, and Jerry Avorn
JAMA. 2000;283(24):3211-3216.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES

Paradoxical Effects of Statins on Aortic Valve Myofibroblasts and Osteoblasts: Implications for End-Stage Valvular Heart Disease
Wu et al.
Arterioscler. Thromb. Vasc. Bio. 2005;25:592-597.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Use of Statins and Fracture: Results of 4 Prospective Studies and Cumulative Meta-analysis of Observational Studies and Controlled Trials
Bauer et al.
Arch Intern Med 2004;164:146-152.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Cancer Prevention Science and Practice
Lippman and Hong
Cancer Res. 2002;62:5119-5125.
FULL TEXT  

Statins: effects beyond cholesterol lowering
A. Massy and Guijarro
Nephrol Dial Transplant 2001;16:1738-1741.
FULL TEXT  

Statins and the Acute-Phase Response
Munford
NEJM 2001;344:2016-2018.
FULL TEXT  

Statins and Fracture Risk
Hennessy and Strom
JAMA 2001;285:1888-1889.
FULL TEXT  

Risk of Breast Cancer with Progestins in Combination with Estrogen as Hormone Replacement Therapy
Santen et al.
J. Clin. Endocrinol. Metab. 2001;86:16-23.
FULL TEXT  

Therapeutic Approaches to Bone Diseases
Rodan and Martin
Science 2000;289:1508-1514.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Statin Use May Decrease Bone Fractures
JWatch General 2000;2000:1-1.
FULL TEXT