Posts Tagged ‘cholesterol’

Cholesterol Drugs for Kids: New AAP Recommendations

07/08/2008 , 10:40 AM by Alex Sicre

I’m sure you have seen this blog by Tara Parker Pope by now or read about it from another news source, but I am a little slow coming back from vacation.

Cholesterol drugs for kids? I think this is a little ridiculous. When I was in grade school in the 80s, we had this thing called the President’s Fitness Challenge (or Test?) – where all the students had to take this fitness test to see how you fared against the national average. That was only 25 years ago.

Do they still use this in schools? I agree testing for cholesterol is important, but how about diet and exercise instead of medicating children. We are so quick to medicate children for everything – can’t concentrate, drug em, too fat, drug ‘em. Shouldn’t parents be a little more responsible in regards to their children’s health?

I was diagnosed with high triglycerides and high cholesterol 14 months ago, and have been taking Tricor, and now Niaspan to lower my levels, and I have changed my diet. I am about 5 points from getting off the medications, luckiy, or the next step would have been a stain. From what I heave heard though, I wouldn’t want to wish a statin on anyone, let alone a child.

This is a brief reporting on the AAP recommendation for cholesterol drugs for children from FirstWord by Bryan DeBusk:

The American Academy of Pediatrics on Monday announced new guidelines recommending cholesterol screening and treatment options for children. According to the new policy, patients over 8 years of age with high LDL concentrations should be considered for cholesterol-lowering drug therapy.

The organisation recommended that children and adolescents undergo cholesterol screening if they have a family history of high cholesterol or heart disease, an unknown family history, or risk factors such as obesity, high blood pressure or diabetes. Screening should occur between the ages of two and 10 years.

According to the new policy, patients over 8 years of age with high LDL concentrations should be considered for cholesterol-lowering drug therapy. Children under age 8 with high cholesterol should focus on exercise, nutrition and weight reduction, according to the AAP.

Stephen Daniels, a member of the AAP’s nutrition committee, said the guidelines are based in part on recent research demonstrating the safety of cholesterol-lowering drugs in children, and predicted that the new guidelines will result in long-term health benefits. “If we are more aggressive about this in childhood, I think we can have an impact on what happens later in life…and avoid some of these heart attacks and strokes in adulthood,” Daniels suggested.

Previous recommendations from the AAP stated that cholesterol drugs should only be considered in children older than 10 years if they have not been able to lose weight.

My Health

12/06/2007 , 11:40 AM by Alex Sicre

In February of this year, I was diagnosed with high Triglycerides and high Cholesterol. Mostly hereditary – have you seen the Vytorin ads? – and somewhat my diet. My doctor put me on Tricor, and I have been pretty adherent. In July, I stopped taking it for two weeks while I awaited a new script but otherwise everyday.

My new doctor (my old MD went back to research) didn’t know if Tricor was the right drug, so he sent me for blood work.

He gave me the results today.

The good news is that all my levels went down: Total 247, LDL 149, HDL 38 and Triglycerides 301. The bad news is my HDL went down 10 points (very bad considering this is the “good” cholesterol and 40 or higher is recommended). The LDL went down 50 points (very good 130 is recommended), and my total is only 47 points out of the top part of the spectrum. So I am feeling pretty good about myself. I still need to eat better, lose more weight and exercise more effeciently – but who doesn’t?

The point to all of this – other than letting you all know about my health, which is top of mind in your lives – is that within two minutes of questioning, my MD asked if I had been taking Tricor regularly. I said yes, except for that two week period, and he said “Everyday?” And I said, “Yes, everyday.” I was going to tell him that I am the Director of Corporate Development for a healthcare technology company that focuses on enabling medication adherence and that a get daily text, voice and email reminders, but I didn’t need to get into it.

It then occured to me that if I said I was taking the Tricor (see White Coat Adherence) and was not, that all of his diagnosees would be off. If he thought the Tricor wasn’t working (technically it would not be working because I would not be taking it), and prescribed something else – it could really mess up my system. I never really thought about medication adherence this way, only that by not taking your meds, your condition gets worse.

My MD was happy to see my numbers and my weight go down and he gave me a choice: keep losing weight, eat better and exercise and see what happens in three months, or do all of that and take another medication in conjunction with the Tricor. He wanted to make sure I would stay adherent to another medication. Putting me on Niacin would increase my pills to 4 a day (I am on another med in the morning and bedtime). 32 million people are on 3 or more medications. Plus, he gave me an antibiotic to take for 10 days to knock a sinus infection out which I have had for two weeks.

So now, my total pill count is at 5 pills, 4 medications.

The better news is the rare blood disease he was worried about only needs to be checked every three months. So there is more time at the lab for me. If I stay adherent to the Tricor and the Niacin, and loose more weight (he said 10 lbs), and eat better (I do have the occational french fry, and ice cream) – I should have all my levels in the right range and not have to take any medications.

This would be optimal.

So, I will set up more reminders for myself, get into the routine of taking a new drug and everything should be right as rain.

As long as there are not any horrible side effects – he mentioned hot flashes – and the drugs fall into my formulary. By my son’s 1st birthday, I will be a new man!