Should children take statins?

(HealthScout) UPDATED 2009-07-26

Guidelines from the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Heart Association recommend that obese children as young as eight years old should be treated with cholesterol-lowering statins if lifestyle changes fail to improve their health. But this recommendation has sparked a debate among other experts who believe treating children with these drugs could put them at risk for long-term consequences that aren't yet fully understood. But research has shown that starting children with high levels of bad cholesterol on statins can have long-term positive benefits on their health, and other experts say any negative effects can be monitored with laboratory tests. Still, there is no data on how the use statins for decades could affect a person's overall health. Read full story >

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