Special Report: Prescribing Statins for High-Risk Children

Guest: Jatinder Bhatia, MD
Host: Jennifer Shu, MD, FAAP
Guest: Darshak Sanghavi, MD

It's the leading cause of death and morbidity in American adults, but the cardiovascular disease process may begin in childhood. A new clinical report from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends some children as young as age 8 should receive pharmacologic treatment for dyslipidemia. The recommendations have stirred considerable debate among pediatricians and others in the medical community.

Given the absence of long-term data to support the safety of prescribing statins, how was the decision made to go forward with these recommendations? What potential adverse effects from the medications should we be most concerned about? What are the most prudent alternatives to medicating children at risk for cardiovascular disease?

Host Dr. Jennifer Shu welcomes Dr. Jatinder Bhatia, professor and chair of neonatology at the Medical College of Georgia, and a member of the AAP Committee on Nutrition, and Dr. Darshak Sanghavi, a pediatric cardiologist and an assistant professor of pediatrics at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, for a candid discussion about the merits of the AAP recommendations.