Doctors say cholesterol drugs OK for some kids

And how much lobbying and free meals did it take from cholesterol drug makers to sway the American Academy of Pediatrics? Just as there's mounting evidence that these drugs do VERY little to stave off heart attacks or stroke in adults, suddenly a new revenue stream opens up. Apparently the pediatricians have let their subscription to Business Week lapse (1/17/08: Do Cholesterol Drugs do any Good?). http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/...

And how much lobbying and free meals did it take from cholesterol drug makers to sway the American Academy of Pediatrics? Just as there's mounting evidence that these drugs do VERY little to stave off heart attacks or stroke in adults, suddenly a new revenue stream opens up. Apparently the pediatricians have let their subscription to Business Week lapse (1/17/08: Do Cholesterol Drugs do any Good?). http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/...

Done wrote:

And how much lobbying and free meals did it take from cholesterol drug makers to sway the American Academy of Pediatrics? Just as there's mounting evidence that these drugs do VERY little to stave off heart attacks or stroke in adults, suddenly a new revenue stream opens up. Apparently the pediatricians have let their subscription to Business Week lapse (1/17/08: Do Cholesterol Drugs do any Good?). http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/...

...Right. And isn't it bad enough there's millions of adults walking around who are hooked on prescription meds, and that kids who turn in their homework late are branded with ADD, and that we are subjected to incessant ads telling us what's wrong with us, or, if there's nothing wrong, what might or could be wrong with us ?

Here's some free unprofessional medical advice for parents. Toss the chips and Cheetos and pop, feed your kid a good diet with plenty of veg, rip the X-box out of the wall, and encourage them to excercise or join a school sport.

It may may not solve all future health problems, but it definitely won't hurt.

So the drug companies are running out of the elderly to push their drugs and want to make evening more money. I can't believe this is being recommended for children that young. I think the only reason is these companies will have a steady stream of income for a long time.

Sorry not my child!! Push your drugs somewhere else.

Oh boy - I hate to sound like an old fart, however - my mom wouldn't allow us to drink pop except on rare occasions, no sweet cereal, no potato chips, no constant snacking the list goes on and on. My parents ate all manner of vegetables etc, we had three meals a day and if we didn't like what was served, we didn't eat. After school and during the summer our butts were out the door riding bikes and of course a list of chores. I recently looked at my grade school pictures and realized that out of a class of 40 or so there were only 2 children that were heavy. Get your kids off their butts, do you job as parents. The idea that children should be taking drugs for anything is very distessing to me.

Here's a thought -- get your fat kid off the sofa and put down the bag of chips.

suzyq wrote:

Oh boy - I hate to sound like an old fart

I'm 24 and I mostly agree with you. Thanks to bad parenting, emotional hypersensitivity, overmedication and 'zero tolerance,' today's young children are a bunch of fat, lazy, thin-skinned wimps.

The last thing they need is MORE drugs.

I can't believe that kids need a cholesterol fighting drugs. Rather, parents should be watching what their fatty's eat. God damn.

Wow, it's sad to read the posts and realize that not only is there a growing health problem among children, but that there is a lot of ignorance among adults. I agree that there should be a change in diet & exercise to promote better health, but this recommendation by the American Academy of Pediatrics is to give cholesterol lowering medication to children only AFTER they have failed to lose weight... Believe it or not, some people (and they aren't all overweight!) get heart attacks early in life - either due to their diet or their genetics...
For SOME children, it MAY be better for them to treat their high cholesterol through medication rather than to let it keep clogging up their arteries.
And come on - to refer to children as fatties!?! Says a lot about you...

Thanks to the dietitian that put everyone in line. First off, I'm so sick of hearing people stereotype anyone overweight as being lazy, gluttonous couch potatoes. Sure, most children and adults with weight problems need to make some lifestyle changes, but I'd bet most of you have some work to do in that area as well, even though you might not be overweight.

Second, like the dietitian above mentioned, high cholesterol does not go hand-in-hand with being overweight. So get off your high-horses and stop pretending you or your kids are better than anyone else just because you don't have to struggle with high cholesterol or weight problems.

Statin drugs should be pulled off the market before they injure any more people. Statins do not protect against heart disease, stroke, and they weaken your immune system, ruin your liver, kidneys, weaken the heart muscle, cause medically induced dementia, severe muscle damage and permanent nerve damageand increase the risk of developing colon cancer. This is all in the name of pure profit by the drug companies. Remember, the majority of traditional doctors are slaves to the drug companies.

Done wrote:

And how much lobbying and free meals did it take from cholesterol drug makers to sway the American Academy of Pediatrics? Just as there's mounting evidence that these drugs do VERY little to stave off heart attacks or stroke in adults, suddenly a new revenue stream opens up. Apparently the pediatricians have let their subscription to Business Week lapse (1/17/08: Do Cholesterol Drugs do any Good?). http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/...

Amen! I have wondered for a long time when they would try to put kids on this crap medicine. The makers of statins must be thrilled to have a new door open for them to rook the public.
If I had young kids, I wouldn't get a cholesterol test for them and I certainly wouldn't let them take medicine that could in fact affect their hearts.
Wake up American public, and put these pharma companies in their place. It is getting ridiculous!
Half of the people who have heart attacks have "normal" levels of cholesterol. Whatever "normal" is, I doubt even doctors know what the level should be!