Drugging Grade Schoolers With Statins
CureZone - Joanne Waldron | The obesity epidemic in America is now so out of control that the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has decided it would be a good idea to start giving statin drugs to children as young as eight years old, according to their latest published policy outlined in a clinical report entitled "Lipid Screening and Cardiovascular Health in Childhood." The report is authored by Stephen R. Daniels, MD, PhD, Frank R. Greer, MD and the AAP Committee on Nutrition. Not surprisingly, an article by Lindsey Tanner of The Associated Press points out that Daniels has worked as a consultant to Abbott Laboratories and Merck (on matters unrelated to their cholesterol drugs). One can only imagine the new visions of dollar signs that the pharmaceutical companies must have dancing in their heads.
Cholesterol Screening for Two-Year-Olds?
A visit to the pediatrician may soon include screening children and adolescents with a fasting lipid profile. The AAP now recommends cholesterol screening for all children who are overweight or obese. Children who have parents or grandparents that developed heart disease at an early age or have other risk factors are also candidates for screening. The AAP is recommending that children be screened as early as age two. Imagine that. If Gramps had a heart attack at a young age, Junior may have to get a blood workup before he even starts preschool. According to the AAP Committee on Nutrition, if Junior is 8 years or older "with an LDL concentration of 190 mg/dL (or 160 mg/dL with a family history of early heart disease or 2 additional risk factors present or 130 mg/dL if diabetes mellitus is present), pharmacologic intervention should be considered."
AAP Ignores rBGH Issue
Interestingly enough, the AAP recommends that children drink low-fat milk but makes absolutely no mention whatsoever of avoiding red meat and milk that comes from cows injected with the bovine growth hormone (rBGH). The Oregon Physicians for Social Responsibility recommends that people not consume products from cows that have been injected with any kind of bovine growth hormone, citing that it increases disease rates in cows and has been linked to possible increases in cancer and antibiotic resistance in humans. Moreover, Fairview Industries, a biochemistry research firm in Wisconsin, contends that use of rBGH produces milk which contains cow blood serum protein in it, and in certain children, this protein has been found to promote diabetes.
CureZone - Joanne Waldron | The obesity epidemic in America is now so out of control that the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has decided it would be a good idea to start giving statin drugs to children as young as eight years old, according to their latest published policy outlined in a clinical report entitled "Lipid Screening and Cardiovascular Health in Childhood." The report is authored by Stephen R. Daniels, MD, PhD, Frank R. Greer, MD and the AAP Committee on Nutrition. Not surprisingly, an article by Lindsey Tanner of The Associated Press points out that Daniels has worked as a consultant to Abbott Laboratories and Merck (on matters unrelated to their cholesterol drugs). One can only imagine the new visions of dollar signs that the pharmaceutical companies must have dancing in their heads.
Cholesterol Screening for Two-Year-Olds?
A visit to the pediatrician may soon include screening children and adolescents with a fasting lipid profile. The AAP now recommends cholesterol screening for all children who are overweight or obese. Children who have parents or grandparents that developed heart disease at an early age or have other risk factors are also candidates for screening. The AAP is recommending that children be screened as early as age two. Imagine that. If Gramps had a heart attack at a young age, Junior may have to get a blood workup before he even starts preschool. According to the AAP Committee on Nutrition, if Junior is 8 years or older "with an LDL concentration of 190 mg/dL (or 160 mg/dL with a family history of early heart disease or 2 additional risk factors present or 130 mg/dL if diabetes mellitus is present), pharmacologic intervention should be considered."
AAP Ignores rBGH Issue
Interestingly enough, the AAP recommends that children drink low-fat milk but makes absolutely no mention whatsoever of avoiding red meat and milk that comes from cows injected with the bovine growth hormone (rBGH). The Oregon Physicians for Social Responsibility recommends that people not consume products from cows that have been injected with any kind of bovine growth hormone, citing that it increases disease rates in cows and has been linked to possible increases in cancer and antibiotic resistance in humans. Moreover, Fairview Industries, a biochemistry research firm in Wisconsin, contends that use of rBGH produces milk which contains cow blood serum protein in it, and in certain children, this protein has been found to promote diabetes.