This has been all over the news this week, this article from, "The Oregonian," gives a clear summation:
"The nation's pediatricians are calling for wider use of cholesterol-lowering drugs in children -- the latest troubling sign of the obesity epidemic. Guidelines published this week by the American Academy of Pediatrics advocate the use of statins and other cholesterol-lowering drugs in kids as young as 8. ...Since 1998, when the previous guidelines were published, the number of overweight and obese children has soared. ...[S]tudies have revealed that atherosclerosis, the clogging and hardening of arteries, can start during grade-school years in those with high cholesterol.
"The more evidence we accumulate, the more it's clear the process does begin in childhood," said Dr. Stephen Daniels of the University of Colorado Denver School of Medicine, lead author of the guidelines. [T]he guidelines call for the use [of these drugs] only in kids with severe high cholesterol who make no progress with diet and exercise."
Thoughts?
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