New Guidelines Would Greatly Boost Number of Young People on Statins

'New Guidelines Would Greatly Boost Number of Young People on Statins'

Guidelines Would Boost Number of Youth on Statins

Analysis finds 483,500 people aged 17 to 21 would get a cholesterol drug, based on NIH advisory

WebMD News from HealthDay

By Robert Preidt

HealthDay Reporter

MONDAY, April 6, 2015 (HealthDay News) — If all doctors followed new cholesterol^[1] guidelines aimed at children, almost half a million Americans aged 17 to 21 would be prescribed a cholesterol-lowering statin^[2] drug, a new study predicts.

In 2011, the U.S. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) issued new guidelines on reducing heart disease^[3] in adolescents and young adults. Those guidelines recommended that all people aged 17 to 21 get their blood levels of cholesterol^[4] checked, and statin treatment be initiated if cholesterol was at a certain level.

In contrast, the American College of Cardiology (ACC) and American Heart Association (AHA) are sticking by adult-focused guidelines that more tightly restrict the use of statins^[5] for those under 40 years age.

In the new study, researchers led by Dr. Holly Gooding of Boston Children’s Hospital looked at data from more than 6,300 participants, aged 17 to 21, tracked in federal government health surveys between 1999 and 2012.

Gooding’s team found that 2.5 percent of those with elevated levels of “bad” low-density lipoprotein (LDL^[6]) cholesterol would qualify for statin treatment under the NHLBI cholesterol guidelines for children, compared with only 0.4 percent under the ACC/AHA adult guidelines.

That means that 483,500 people in that age group would qualify for statin treatment under the NHLBI guidelines, compared with 78,200 under adult guidelines, the researchers reported.

Compared with those who met the adult guidelines, those who met the children’s guidelines had lower average LDL cholesterol levels^[7], but higher rates of other heart disease^[8] risk factors, such as high blood pressure^[9], obesity^[10] and smoking^[11].

The study was published online April 6 in the journal JAMA Pediatrics.

It’s common for abnormal cholesterol levels^[12] and other heart disease^[13] risk factors to start appearing when people are teens, but the two sets of recommendations offer doctors conflicting advice, the researchers said.

For now, they recommend that physicians and patients “engage in shared decision making around the potential benefits, harms, and patient preferences for treatment,” the study authors wrote.

References

1. ^{^} cholesterol (www.webmd.com)
2. ^{^} statin (www.webmd.com)
3. ^{^} heart disease (www.webmd.com)
4. ^{^} cholesterol (www.webmd.com)
5. ^{^} statins (www.webmd.com)
6. ^{^} LDL (www.webmd.com)
7. ^{^} cholesterol levels (www.webmd.com)
8. ^{^} heart disease (www.webmd.com)
9. ^{^} high blood pressure (www.webmd.com)
10. ^{^} obesity (www.webmd.com)
11. ^{^} smoking (www.webmd.com)
12. ^{^} cholesterol levels (www.webmd.com)
13. ^{^} heart disease (www.webmd.com)