Cholesterol and Our Kids
July 27th, 2008 by The Doc
A few weeks ago the American Academy of Pediatrics recommended the use of statins (Lovastatin, et al) for the treatment of hypercholesterolemia in children as young as two years.
I’m still seething about it.
Not since the blatant pandering of the 60’s, when the pharmaceutical industry began its campaign to shower estrogens on unsuspecting women, has there been such a shameless effort to sell a class of drugs to as many Americans as possible. The medical community, enthralled by years of lobbying and schmoozing by Big Pharma, has fallen into lockstep. We should be ashamed of ourselves.
We have an epidemic of congestive heart failure in this country. Statins, which reduce levels of ubiquinone (CoQ10) by as much as 40%, may be at the root of that problem. But the importance of this adverse effect has been blithely ignored.
Each time a study involving statins is published, there seems to be a statement about a “slightly higher than normal incidence” of cancer, death, etc. Appended to those words we usually see the disclaimer: “These results could be attributed to chance alone.”
How odd that researchers– who are too often paid by the companies whose drugs they’re “investigating”– will squeeze every data point and tweak every statistical test to prove the drug company’s hypotheses, yet will write off serious adverse events to “chance alone.”
If my children were still in their formative years, would I have their cholesterol levels checked? No. Why should I? Why would I feed them statins every day to address a lifestyle issue? That would be like giving them an adjustable hammock to suspend above the ever-growing heap of clutter on the floor of their room, just so they wouldn’t have to clean up the mess.
No, I wouldn’t even consider a statin drug for a youngster; there’s not enough unsullied data out there to prove that these medications are safe for adults. For my kids’ sake, I’d rather get them moving. I’d turn off the computer, unplug the TV, and toss the latest version of X-box into the trashcan.
Then, in 10 or 20 years when the truth about statins is finally revealed (and the pharmaceutical companies have raked in their billions and prepped their attorneys) my children will still be hale and hearty.