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NHLBI panel recommends universal pediatric screening for cholesterol
All children and adolescents should be screened for high cholesterol, and children as young as aged 10 should be considered for treatment with statins, according to the latest update from an expert panel convened by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.
All children and adolescents should be screened for high cholesterol, and children as young as aged 10 should be considered for treatment with statins.
That’s the latest update from an expert panel convened by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute and endorsed by the American Academy of Pediatrics. New recommendations from the Expert Panel on Integrated Guidelines for Cardiovascular Health and Risk Reduction in Children and Adolescents: Summary Report were published in a recent special supplement to Pediatrics.
While manifest atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (CVD) remains rare in childhood and adolescence, the risk factors and risk behaviors that lead to later disease begin early in life. Strong evidence shows that early intervention can enhance early risk reduction and delay progression toward clinical disease.
Growing clinical evidence shows that cardiovascular risk factors, including elevated cholesterol, can begin in childhood. Based on these findings, the panel recommended that cholesterol screening be a part of periodic well-child visits for all children and adolescents. The panel recommended children at least once between aged 9 and 11 and again at between aged 17 to 21.
Treatment with statins should be considered for children with LDL levels of 190 mg/mL or higher who are aged at least 10 years and have failed at least 6 months of lifestyle management.
“Atherosclerosis begins in childhood and the extent of atherosclerosis is linked directly to the presence and intensity of known risk factors,” the panel wrote. “Early identification and control of dyslipidemia throughout youth and into adulthood will substantially reduce clinical CVD risk beginning in young adult life.”
Prior guidelines recommended cholesterol screening only for children with known risk factors such as a family history of CVD or known elevated cholesterol.
Coalition promotes important acetaminophen dosing reminders
November 18th 2014It may come as a surprise that each year Americans catch approximately 1 billion colds, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that as many as 20% get the flu. This cold and flu season, 7 in 10 patients will reach for an over-the-counter (OTC) medicine to treat their coughs, stuffy noses, and sniffles. It’s an important time of the year to remind patients to double check their medicine labels so they don’t double up on medicines containing acetaminophen.
Support consumer access to specialty medications through value-based insurance design
June 30th 2014The driving force behind consumer cost-sharing provisions for specialty medications is the acquisition cost and not clinical value. This appears to be true for almost all public and private health plans, says a new report from researchers at the University of Michigan Center for Value-Based Insurance Design (V-BID Center) and the National Pharmaceutical Council (NPC).
Management of antipsychotic medication polypharmacy
June 13th 2013Within our healthcare-driven society, the increase in the identification and diagnosis of mental illnesses has led to a proportional increase in the prescribing of psychotropic medications. The prevalence of mental illnesses and subsequent treatment approaches may employ monotherapy as first-line treatment, but in many cases the use of combination of therapy can occur, leading to polypharmacy.1 Polypharmacy can be defined in several ways but it generally recognized as the use of multiple medications by one patient and the most common definition is the concurrent use of five more medications. The presence of polyharmacy has the potential to contribute to non-compliance, drug-drug interactions, medication errors, adverse events, or poor quality of life.
Medical innovation improves outcomes
June 12th 2013I have been diagnosed with stage 4 cancer of the pancreas, a disease that’s long been considered not just incurable, but almost impossible to treat-a recalcitrant disease that some practitioners feel has given oncology a bad name. I was told my life would be measured in weeks.
