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THURSDAY, March 22 (HealthDay News) -- The use of cholesterol-lowering statin drugs in youngsters should be part of updated guidelines for treating children and adolescents with high-risk lipid abnormalities, particularly high cholesterol.
That's the recommendation contained in an American Heart Association scientific statement published in the March 21 issue of the journal Circulation.
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New data and increased knowledge about the beginnings of heart disease make it necessary to update the guidelines, the statement authors said.
"Guidelines drawn up by the National Cholesterol Education Program (NCEP) more than 10 years ago didn't really address the use of statins, a class of drugs that can lower cholesterol. Since that time, several drug trials in kids with familial hypercholesterolemia, a genetic predisposition to high cholesterol, have shown the use of statins had similar safety and effectiveness as in adults," Dr. Brian McCrindle, head of the statement writing group, said in a prepared statement.
"In addition to highlighting new evidence, this new statement addresses a greater need for recognizing young patients with multiple risk factors and how those factors could influence the decision to treat with medications or not," said McCrindle, a professor of pediatrics at the University of Toronto and staff cardiologist at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, Canada.
The statement focuses on children with high-risk lipid abnormalities, such as familial hypercholesterolemia, diabetes, or a family history of cardiovascular disease or early heart attacks and stroke.
While other children who are overweight or obese may have elevated cholesterol levels, most of them would not meet the criteria for being prescribed cholesterol-lowering drugs. For these children, lifestyle changes would be the most appropriate treatment, McCrindle said.
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-- Robert Preidt
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