The Joke's on Us
Just a few weeks ago, I jokingly wrote that if the drug companies get their way, statins will soon be added to the water supply so everyone can reap their "benefits."
That doesn't seem so funny now. I just read about a new study that suggests children as young as five years old could be candidates for statin therapy.
Yup, you read that right. At the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions in Chicago this month, physicians from McMaster University in Ontario, Canada presented an analysis showing that growing number of preschoolers have risk factors for heart disease, like high cholesterol, type II diabetes, and excess weight. As part of a "more aggressive" approach to prevention of heart disease, they recommend regular blood lipid and glucose level testing for children starting at age five - and open the door for use of statins, as well.
It's bad enough to see adults fall into the statin trap. But to see them setting the snare now for kids (and their parents) is just outrageous.
Once you start on statins, you rarely stop - so starting on a child on a statins means he's likely to be on it for 50 years or more! We don't even know all of the long-term effects of these drugs - they've only become widely used in the last decade or so. You already know the potential effects in adults: liver damage, muscle pain and weakness, personality changes, and memory problems, just to name a few. I wouldn't be surprised if children's developing bodies are even more susceptible to these dangerous effects - and potentially, to more that we don't even know about yet. Here's one potential danger to think about: cholesterol is the most common substance in your brain cells. It helps hold them together and work properly. We know statins can cause memory loss -- I've seen it myself too many times to count, severe in a few cases. Just what does it mean to pull out cholesterol from a developing child's body, including his or her brain? The answer is we just don't know. So giving these powerful drugs to kids sounds like an unhealthy and unsafe roll of the dice to me.
I agree with the first part of the study's recommendations: cholesterol and blood glucose testing should be a routine part of pediatric exams, and troublesome results should be approached aggressively. But that doesn't have to mean drugs. Research (and experience) has shown time and time again that lifestyle changes can yield equally dramatic results against all the heart disease risk factors - cholesterol, diabetes, and the buildup of plaque on artery walls. Healthy eating changes and exercise do the trick - and because of their faster metabolisms, kids usually see results quicker than adults do.
For most kids, some simple changes are enough. Simply limiting TV and computer time and cutting out fast food may do it. Cutting back on fruit juice is also a good idea - another recent study demonstrated a link between juice consumption and excess weight in preschoolers.
Sure, it's easier to get a kid to pop a pill in front of the TV than it is to get them to eat their broccoli before going outside to play. But who said raising kids was easy?
