Cholesterol Drugs prescribed For high-risk kids

摘要

In July, in an update of a 1998 policy statement, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommended dropping the age at which at-risk children should be given statins-a class of cholesterol-lowering medication-from 10 years old to 8 years. The drugs would be prescribed to children with an LDL (the "bad" cholesterol) above 190 milligrams per deciliter, or above 160 with a family history of heart disease. "The idea is to address risk factors as early as possible because we know plaques start to accumulate during infancy," says Nicolas Stet-tler, an assistant professor of pediatrics and epidemiology at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and a member of the AAP's nutrition committee.