Less Than 1 percent Of Teens Need Cholesterol Drugs

Seattle – Most obese teens in the U.S. do not need statins or cholesterol drugs, according to new research.

A new study posted Monday in the online edition of the Dallas-based American Heart Association ‘s journal Circulation, finds that less than 1 percent of teens actually requirecholesterol drugs.

Dr. Stephen Daniels, the lead author of the guidelines, says the increase in obesity doesn’t seem to be bringing an increase in cholesterol levels.

Last year, the American Academy of Pediatrics urged doctors to consider cholesterol drugs for children as young as 8 if they had high levels of LDL, or bad cholesterol along with other health problems such as obesity and high blood pressure.

“The concern was I think, because there’s an increasing level in obesity, that it would lead to higher and higher cholesterol levels. They don’t seem to be going up,” said Dr. Daniels.

For the new study which took place from 1999 to 2006, researchers looked at data of nearly 10,000 children involved in a national government health survey.  They found that about 2,700 in the 12-to-17 group had LDL levels measured, and about 5 percent to 7 percent of those youth had elevated LDL.

Those numbers where then cross referenced against the pediatric academy guidelines.

What researchers found was that .8% of the children actually need cholesterol medication.

“I think it provides some perspective on the issue,” said lead study author Dr. Earl Ford, medical officer in the U.S. Public Health Service.
The study has been published in the journal Circulation.