Statins are some of the most commonly prescribed cholesterol-lowering drugs. They act by inhibiting HMG-CoA reductase, the main enzyme in the synthesis of cholesterol. Earlier studies have shown that statins have an osteoprotective effect: a recently published paper has shown that there is a dose-dependent relationship between different kinds of statins with diagnosis of osteoporosis. "We could find an underrepresentation of osteoporosis in low-dose and an overrepresentation in high-dose statin treatment," says first author Dr. Michael Leutner, MSc PhD (Department of Internal Medicine 3, Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Medical University of Vienna), who discusses the details of his study with Dr. Paul Studenic in this podcast.