The Cradle-to-Grave Drugging of America
by Mark Lange, PhD
On July 7th, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommended children as young as two years of age have cholesterol screening if there is a family history of high cholesterol or heart disease. AAP also recommends children over the age of eight be given statin (cholesterol lowering) drugs. You can read the New York Times article here.
For several years there has been controversy about the increasingly lower thresholds for “normal” blood pressure and serum cholesterol levels, common risk factors for cardiovascular disease. In 1999, more than 800 doctors, pharmacists, and scientists from 58 nations signed an open letter to the World Health Organization, stating that their new hypertension guidelines would result in increased use of prescription drugs with great expense and little benefit. Furthermore, the letter states, “In our view it is necessary to prove benefit, not lack of harm, when making such a recommendation.” (read the full letter here)
When the medical community decides to make a far-reaching recommendation such as the AAP’s, the benefits must be demonstrated and the lack of harm proven. Medical researchers often extrapolate research results to produce guidelines doctors and patients follow unquestioningly. Children are not little adults. It is questionable at best to extrapolate the possible benefit of statins in adults to their use in children.
Do we know for certain that statins work? We know they bring down cholesterol levels. But do they reduce the incidence of heart disease? There is good evidence that they reduce the chances of a second heart attack. But for primary prevention the evidence is less compelling. In other words, in treating people who are well, or at least thought they were. Between 1997 and 2002, the number of elderly on statins more than doubled. With the current trend, soon they will be debating statins in our tap water!
There are many learned articles saying statins “work”. But the usual definition of “work” revolves around reducing cholesterol levels. There is more to it than that; you must balance the cost of intervening to alter the risk profile of large numbers of healthy people against the time and resources it takes away from tending to people who are truly sick or of unquestionable high risk. We must, as individuals, take personal responsibility for our health and consider alternatives to drug therapy such as exercise and good nutrition. Many drugs have side effects, both immediate and long-term. For example, statins lower CoQ10 levels by as much as 40%. CoQ10 is essential for cellular energy production and proper heart function. If an eight year old child goes on a statin drug, when can he or she be taken off the drug? Once the child has been classified as being high risk, likely they will be on statins for the rest of their life.