Children on Statins for High Cholesterol?

It appears Big Pharma and the established system of conventional medicine is not satisfied with the millions of adults that are prescribed statin drugs every year, but are now going after the children's market. Despite the known, but often underplayed, hazards of statin use in adults, a leading pediatrician's organization is now recommending cholesterol testing for children as young as 2, and the administration of statin drugs to children as young as 8. The article below includes an astounding statement by a supporter of these plans, admitting that there is little research on the effects of these drugs on children, but that they are considered "generally safe." Well, we've certainly heard those words before!

The obesity epidemic amongst American kids is being used to justify the use of these toxic drugs. Here again we have classic AMA thinking that seeks to throw toxic pharmaceuticals at a health problem instead of addressing the real cause behind the alarming rates of heart disease in this country. Pediatricians, of all people, should be standing up and declaring that our children must be taught to eat real, whole foods instead of the steady diet of pre-packaged junk and fast-food that most consume, along with a lifestyle that encourages lots of physical activity. Instead, they are telling parents to give dangerous drugs to their children, drugs that will only harm them and not help reduce their risk of disease. A quick fix, if you will. Such foolishness as this only robs physicians of the little integrity they have left in the eyes of many these days. It is a travesty that one must question every recommendation given by doctors, as many of them are blinded to the truth by the propaganda put out by Big Pharma and the "researchers" they fund.

Artificial Symptom Relief Does Not Equal Health


Cholesterol Drugs for Kids
July 7, 2008, 12:15 am

The nation's pediatricians are recommending wider cholesterol screening for children and more aggressive use of cholesterol-lowering drugs starting as early as the age of 8 in hopes of preventing adult heart problems.

The new guidelines were to be issued by the American Academy of Pediatrics on Monday. The push to aggressively screen and medicate for high cholesterol in children is certain to create controversy amid a continuing debate about the use of prescription drugs in children as well as the best approaches to ward off heart disease in adults.

But proponents say there is growing evidence that the first signs of heart disease show up in childhood, and with 30 percent of the nation's children overweight or obese, many doctors fear that a rash of early heart attacks and diabetes is on the horizon as these children grow up.

Previously, the academy had said cholesterol drugs should be considered in children older than 10 if they fail to lose weight after a 6- to 12-month effort. The academy estimated that under the current guidelines, 30 percent to 60 percent of children with high cholesterol were being missed. And for some children, cholesterol-lowering drugs, called statins, may be their best hope of lowering their risk of early heart attack, proponents said.

"We are in an epidemic," said Dr. Jatinder Bhatia, a member of the academy's nutrition committee who is a professor and chief of neonatology at the Medical College of Georgia in Augusta. "The risk of giving statins at a lower age is less than the benefit you're going to get out of it."

Dr. Bhatia said that although there was not "a whole lot" of data on pediatric use of cholesterol-lowering drugs, recent research showed that the drugs were generally safe for children.

Surprisingly, the paper published in the medical journal Pediatrics that explains the new guidelines notes that among adolescents, average total cholesterol levels as well as LDL and HDL cholesterol have remained stable, while triglyceride levels have dropped, based on data collected from 1988 to 2000.

It is not clear how many children would be affected by the new guidelines. The recommendations call for cholesterol screening of children and adolescents, starting as early as the age of 2 and no later than the age of 10, if they come from families with a history of high cholesterol or heart attacks before 55 for men and 65 for women.

Screening is also recommended for children when family history is unknown, or if they have other risk factors, like being at or above the 85th percentile for weight, or have diabetes.

If the child's cholesterol level is normal, retesting is suggested in three to five years. Although lifestyle changes are still recommended as the first course of action, drug treatment should be considered for children 8 years and older who have bad cholesterol of 190 milligrams per deciliter and who also have a family history of early heart disease or two additional risk factors, the new recommendations say.

The guidelines give no guidance on how long a child should stay on drug treatment. But they do say the first goal should be to lower bad cholesterol levels to less than 160 milligrams or possibly as low as 110 milligrams in children with a strong family history of heart disease or other risk factors like obesity.

Because statins have been around since only the mid-1980s, there is no evidence to show whether giving statins to a child will lower the risk for heart attack in middle age.

The academy also now recommends giving children low-fat milk after 12 months if a doctor is concerned about future weight problems. Although children need fat for brain development, the group says that because children often consume so much fat, low-fat milk is now appropriate.

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/07/07/cholesterol-drugs-for-kids/