Statin drugs for 8-year-olds?
The nutrition committee of the American Academy of Pediatrics has just issued a new set of recommendations for cholesterol screening. The advice of this august body? Screen 2-year-olds for high cholesterol and start prescribing statin drugs at age 8. OK, they are just recommending this for kids with risk factors, such as high LDL cholesterol (the bad one), family history of heart disease, obesity, diabetes, metabolic syndrome, etc. This sounds great for doctors, testing labs, and drug companies. Is it a good idea for kids? Which kids? Who is going to pick up the tab for this?