Why are Cholesterol Drugs Being Recommended for 8 Year Olds?

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Why are Cholesterol Drugs Being Recommended for 8 Year Olds?

For the first time, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has

recommended that some children as young as 8 should be given

cholesterol-lowering drugs to ward off future heart problems.

Dr. s, who is on the academy's nutrition committee, says the

new advice is based on mounting evidence that damage leading to heart disease,

the nation's leading killer, begins early in life. The drug treatments would be

targeted at kids at least 8 years old who have too much LDL, or " bad, "

cholesterol along with other risky factors, including obesity and high blood

pressure.

Cholesterol screening is also now being recommended for kids with a family

history of high cholesterol and those who are overweight, obese or have other

heart disease risk factors. Screening should take place after age 2 but no later

than age 10, according to the AAP.

Sources:

a.. ABC News July 7, 2008

a.. Pediatrics July 2008, Vol. 122 No. 1, pp. 198-208

Dr. Mercola's Comments:

It never ceases to amaze me just how far the drug companies push the

limit of what they can get away with. Simply an absolutely amazing testimony to

the effectiveness of their brainwashing and manipulation by investing in key

non-scrupulous professionals and organizations.

Every few years, the number of people who " need "

cholesterol-lowering (statin) drugs is suddenly expanded. At this rate, it won't

be very long before someone suggests that everyone take them, cradle to grave.

The companies that make the drugs would certainly approve of that idea.

Although the AAP maintains that these new guidelines have nothing to

do with any commercial entities, the New York Times uncovered some pretty

glaring connections.

For starters, the AAP has received contributions from several drug

makers, including:

a.. $433,000 from Merck

b.. $835,250 from Abbott Laboratories' Ross Product Division

c.. $216,000 from the Bristol-Myers Squibb company Mead

Nutritionals

Meanwhile, several members of AAP's nutrition committee, which

developed the new guidelines, also have ties to drug makers:

a.. Dr. s has consulted for Merck and Abbott

Laboratories (although not on cholesterol drugs)

b.. Dr. Nicolas Stettler of the Children's Hospital of

Philadelphia worked on clinical trials for Merck's Mevacor and a failed Pfizer

cholesterol drug

c.. Dr. Jatinder Bhatia, chief of neonatology at the Medical

College of Georgia in Augusta, has listed financial relationships with

Bristol-Myers Squibb's Mead unit, Abbott's Ross Products and Dey

Laboratories, which is affiliated with Merck

Cholesterol-lowering drugs are already the most used prescription

drugs in the United States, so their makers really didn't need to target the

youngest members of society to increase their bottom lines, but they did anyway.

Five cholesterol drugs have already been approved for kids with

genetic cholesterol disorders:

a.. Bristol-Myers Squibb's Pravachol

b.. Pfizer's Lipitor

c.. Merck's Zocor and Mevacor

d.. Novartis's Lescol

But the new guidelines push it even beyond kids with a genetic

disorder; they also include children who have high " bad " cholesterol, obesity,

high blood pressure and other factors.

Why Cholesterol Drugs are Bad for You . and Even Worse for Your Kids

You should know that among the many dangers of statin drugs is an

increased risk of heart disease. This is because patients taking statins become

depleted in Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10), which leads to fatigue, muscle weakness,

soreness and, ironically, heart failure.

The FDA has had a petition to label statin packages with a warning

about statin-induced CoQ10 depletion for years, but nothing has been done about

it.

Some of the other risks of statin drugs include:

a.. Weakness

b.. Muscle aches

c.. An increase in cancer risk

d.. Immune system suppression

e.. Serious degenerative muscle tissue condition (rhabdomyolysis)

f.. Potential increase in liver enzymes so patients must be

monitored for normal liver function

These, of course, are the risks to adults. But when you give drugs

designed for adults to children, anything can happen because children metabolize

drugs differently. At least one expert has expressed concern that statin drugs

may impact a child's endocrine system, which regulates growth and development.

And there is absolutely no long-term data showing that statin drugs

are safe for kids, who will likely be put on the drugs for many years, if not a

lifetime.

If You are Worried About Your Child's Cholesterol .

First, keep this in mind: It is VERY rare for anyone to need

cholesterol-lowering drugs. Among the more than 20,000 patients who have come to

my clinic, only four or five of them truly needed these drugs, as they had

genetic challenges that required it. If you or someone you know is taking them,

odds are very high, greater than 100 to 1, that you or they don't need it.

And this applies to children too.

Most often, cholesterol becomes high as a result of excess

inflammation in your body. Far from being harmful, the cholesterol is released

into your bloodstream to help repair damage by producing new cells.

So the solution is not to lower your cholesterol, it's to address

what is causing the excess inflammation.

In kids, this is caused largely by the very same things it is in

adults:

1. Eating too many sugar and grains

2. Eating trans fats

3. Not exercising

4. Emotional stress

If these items sound familiar in your family's lifestyle, now's the

time to change it. You do not need drugs to get healthy, you just need to follow

these eight steps:

1. Make sure you and your kids are getting plenty of high-quality,

animal-based omega3-fats. I prefer those from krill oil.

2. Reduce, with the plan of eliminating, grains and sugars in your

family's daily diet.

3. Eat the right foods for your nutritional type and make sure your

kids are eating right for theirs.

4. Make sure your family eats a good portion of their food raw.

5. Get the right amount of exercise. When you exercise you increase

your circulation and the blood flow throughout your body. The components of your

immune system are also better circulated, which means your immune system has a

better chance of fighting an illness before it has the opportunity to spread.

7. Address your emotional challenges. I particularly love the

Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) for stress management. EFT is also easy for

kids to learn and use.

8. If you are having troubles following this advice (exercising

regularly, staying away from sugars, and eating right for your type) then you

might want to try the hypnosis program I recommend for diet and exercise

adherence.

Related Articles:

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