American Academy Of Pediatrics: Put 'em on Drugs!

I am aware that doctors really hate it when patients look to empower themselves by looking up stuff on the internet, but right here, right now, I have to say the American Academy of Pediatrics is WACKED. Putting 8-year olds on cholesterol lowering drugs when it already seems like this drugs may be harming ADULTS?

When we first had J, because MAN FERTILITY and I had no clue about how to raise a kid, we took every word from our pedi as the gospel truth. Now I question everything the AAP says and does (hello, ridiculous vaccine schedule, anyone?), and I urge you to, too.

p.s. our pedi hinted I was a hysterical mom when I insisted there was something wrong with J. Turned out it was his spinal cord tumor that almost paralyzed him. Needless to say, she is our ex-pediatrician. She never apologized for that and other major screwups. I hate feeling like I have to practically spend as much time studying biology, etc., as she did for a career that makes her $$$, thus, the Fertility Bitch. But what are you going to do to protect yourself and your loved ones? I am grateful to have the resources of the science library here at Brown.

p.s. if you have a child with autism/vaccine damage, check out this site: www.reversingautism.org. This is run by a person who is doing some original thinking to help her own kids--and mine--in the gentlest way possible.

From the New York Times:

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8 Year olds on Statins?

By TARA PARKER-POPE

Cholesterol drugs for 8-year-olds?

This aggressive new recommendation for warding off heart disease in some children has stirred a furious debate among pediatricians since the American Academy of Pediatrics issued it on Monday.

While some doctors applauded the idea, others were incredulous. In particular, these doctors called attention to a lack of evidence that the use of the cholesterol-lowering drugs, called statins, in children would prevent heart attacks later in life.

“What are the data that show this is helpful preventing heart attacks?” asked Dr. Darshak Sanghavi, a pediatric cardiologist and assistant professor at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. “How many heart attacks do we hope to prevent this way? There’s no data regarding that.”

Nor, Dr. Sanghavi added, are there data on the possible side effects of taking statins for 40 or 50 years. [ahhh, but think of the revenue!]

Other doctors said the recommendation would distract from common-sense changes in diet and exercise, which are also part of the new guidelines.

“To be frank, I’m embarrassed for the A.A.P. today,” said Dr. Lawrence Rosen of Hackensack University Medical Center in New Jersey, vice chairman of an academy panel on traditional and alternative medicine. He added: “Treatment with medications in the absence of any clear data? I hope they’re ready for the public backlash.”

Doctors who sat on the academy’s committee on nutrition, which issued the guidelines, agree there are no long-term data on statin use in children. But they say there are adequate safety data to justify the recommendations. One statin, Pravachol, has already been approved by the Food and Drug Administration for use in children as young as 8.

read more here.

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