Health Headline Hyperbole: Pediatric Version

Here’s the headline: Cholesterol-fighting Drugs Recommended for Children.

And it gets even worse: Cholesterol drugs urged for children as young as 8.***

“Urged”? Really?

Both articles refer to a Clinical Report from the American Academy of Pediatrics. You can read about the recommendations in the newspaper but you can’t read the actual Clinical Report unless you have access to online medical journals. In case you do, here’s the reference: Lipid Screening and Cardiovascular Health in Childhood (PEDIATRICS Vol. 122 No. 1 July 2008, pp. 198-208).

The clinical report discusses whether children in general ought to have lipid screening (LDL, HDL, cholesterol, etc.) and, if they are screened, what the results mean. I did a quick read of it but the recommendations seem to be to screen very overweight kids and kids from families with family history of cardiovascular problems. The report goes on to discuss what to do about abnormal results including recommendations for changes to diet and activity. Last, the report discusses using drugs to treat high blood lipids. Over and over again, the report mentions the lack of studies in children and the lack of conclusive results. Of course, that doesn’t stop the report from giving recommendations which, in the end, just seem like best-guess guidelines.

Back to those headlines. Just more exaggerations. The report says screen high-risk kids and could, if necessary, treat the most severe cases. Remember … don’t make health related decisions based on a newspaper headline.

I think all of the professional medical organizations need to stop public press-releases.

Here’s a wacky idea … let’s try to feed our kids healthy, real food. I know that it’s difficult and we’re currently working on it in our house but it has to be a much better option than relying on drugs. Even for adults.

***(Read this article … great discussion by an Ottawa doctor about the long-term implications.)