SCREENING KIDS

November 24, 2011

Recently, a panel of experts recommended screening all children for elevated cholesterol.  According to the AMA Morning News, “In a front-page story, the Wall Street Journal (11/12, A1, Winslow, Dooren, Subscription Publication) reported that experts now say that all kids should undergo testing for high cholesterol at some point between the ages of 9 and 11, and then again sometime between the ages of 17 and 21.”

“The Washington Post (11/14, Stein) "The Checkup" blog reports that "the recommendation comes from by a 14-member expert panel convened by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute [NHLBI] and endorsed by the American Academy of Pediatrics, which will publish the panel's report (pdf)...in the journal Pediatrics." This "recommendation marks a significant expansion from the 1992 guidelines, which had recommended that children get their cholesterol checked only if there is a history of high cholesterol or early heart disease in their families."”

While I am whole heartedly in favor of preventative medicine in the form of screening for future risk, I also must point out that screening for future medical risks comes with the responsibility of acting on the results of the testing.  Unfortunately, many patients ignore the early warning signs of diabetes, hypertension, and vascular disease, sweeping them under the table as if they were crumbs.

What are you going to do if your 9 to 11 year old has high cholesterol?  What can you do if your 17 to 21 year old has high cholesterol?  Are you going to medicate them?  I don’t think so, nor would I recommend medication in the vast majority of cases.

The primary treatment of elevated cholesterol in children and young adults is diet and exercise.  A high fiber (30 grams), low cholesterol, low fat diet is quintessential in treating lipid disorders (elevated cholesterol).  What did you feed your family on Thanksgiving?  Did you deep fry the turkey?  Was there sausage in the stuffing?  How much butter went into the yams and pumpkin pie?

If docs are to screen for elevated cholesterol, then patients need to commit to effectively treating the problem.  If the treatment is to eat a healthy diet, then why not save the misery of trying to get blood from a kid and the expense of testing and work on establishing a healthy diet and exercise routine?

The answer is, diets are unnatural acts!  Diets are seen as temporary tools that facilitate losing weight so that you can resume your previously unhealthy life style.  Your Thanksgiving Day traditions are etched in stone.  Changing them take work.

Diets and Other Unnatural Acts will be available on Amazon.com in the next two weeks.  I hope reading it will be the first step in learning how to slowly polish your own diet into a healthier lifestyle.

Have a happy and healthy holiday!