The Story of Cholesterol: The Next Generation (Our Children)

The pharmaceutical industry has its eye on what could be one of the most lucrative demographics that can be tapped into: our children. With obesity rates among young people on a steady rise it was only a matter time before higher cholesterol rates were observed with an eagerness to address it with statin drugs.

Other than the elderly our children are the most vulnerable of us all. That is why special care must be undertaken to ensure a healthy and prosperous start to life. Could statin drug use in our children be the start they need?

The Effects

No one knows for sure the long term effects of statin drugs on children. The reason for this is that no long term studies have been conducted to show efficacy (benefit or harm). What is known is how it affects adults in a relatively short span of time and most often the news is not good.

Also we must consider the fact that statins lower cholesterol by inhibiting the production of hormones especially sex hormones (e.g. testosterone and estrogen). In children this could be potentially devastating altering how their bodies develop forever by interfering with puberty and proper growth. It is known that statin drugs communicate with the pituitary gland blocking or discontinuing certain hormonal functions stunting biological processes.

Children, eating habits, and exercise

According to the Centers for Disease Control childhood obesity rates have doubled in children and tripled in adolescents in the past 30 years. In 2010 it was estimated that nearly 1/3 of all children were overweight or obese. With these statistics there are some doctors and pharmaceutical reps chomping at the bit to get statins into the mouths of children but it doesn't have to be so.

Children tend to eat the way their parents eat. In fact, it is highly likely that if the parents are sedentary, fast food junkies so to will the children likely be. It is estimated that 1/3 of all adults in the U.S. are obese so the estimate for children makes sense. After all the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. We live in a world where we seek the path of least resistance which means we sometimes take short cuts with our health and the health of our children by doing the least possible by way of exercise and activity. We should encourage children to be more active by word and by deed. Children must be told and shown how and why to be active because their very lives depend on it. The same goes for eating habits. A healthy meal plan for the entire family is a great way to get kids involved in healthful and nourishing eating habits that will last their lifetimes.

Medications have their place but long term habitual use in our children will only lead to devastating consequences during or before early adulthood. After all, when you really get down to it, do we really expect an 11 year old child to take statins for 40-60 years without consequences when we know what it does to fully grown adults? Can you imagine the potential profit base for pharmaceutical companies over the same period of time? The average annual per patient cost for a statin is $800 X 60 (years) X 14,000,000 (number of children between the age of 6 and 17 years old that are considered obese or overweight as of 2012) = $672 billion (yes, billion with a B). This number does not take into account the portion of money covered by insurance which is covered by those who pay premiums. It also does not take into account the money that will be spent on other health issues as a result of statin drug use. What is very sad is that the figure above may be overstated because the assumption is a child of 11 would survive until their 70th birthday while taking a statin drug which is unlikely.

More fruits and vegetables, less processed and fast food and a little more movement will allow our children to grow healthy and strong while allowing parents and premium payers alike to keep our money and sanity.

Multivitamin Use Absurd and Dangerous? I Think Not Part II

Another major flaw in the studies cited is what really gives me the greatest concern. With the exception of the chelation study the participants were allowed to use any type of multivitamin they wanted. It mattered not to the researchers if those participating in the studies used natural or synthetic vitamins. The quality of the vitamin nor amount consumed did not matter much either. Participants were not guided on vitamin intake except for the request that the upper limits of vitamin consumption as described by the US Food and Nutrition Board were not exceeded. Even the chelation study failed to control for the quality of the supplements used by the researchers.

A word about "natural" vs. synthetic" vitamins

Since the participants could walk into any store or go online and purchase whatever they wanted there was surely a hodgepodge of vitamins and minerals used. Most people succumb to mainstream advertisements as a major source of supplement information and end up purchasing cheap, synthetic versions of the vitamin they want. The old adage "you get what you pay for" rings very true in this case. Most synthetic vitamins are not bio-available (a fancy word that means your body cannot absorb it) while others are ill absorbed and therefore are just plain trash. How is it possible to receive a meaning outcome in a study where you can shout to the world that multivitamins are useless if you fail to control for (or consider in the case of a meta-analysis) what the participants use? Furthermore, an upper limit of how much to take was established but not a lower limit. What if several of the participants decided to take half doses or less? What reasonable conclusions could one make of a study or analysis that does not account for this? 

It is estimated that a fair majority of all vitamins and minerals on the market today are synthetic with some estimates going as high as 90%! With marketers of all stripes and colors jockeying for our supplemental dollars the truth about the efficacy of their products gets more and more fuzzy. Labels like "all natural" or "food source" can be highly legalistic in definition and therefore deceiving. In order to make sure you are consuming natural vitamins that are high in quality you have to know and trust the manufacturer which can be difficult for sure. Until trust in a product is sure I can give you this one tidbit to take with you on you next supplement shopping trip. Be sure to read the labels and know that any vitamin that begins with "dl" is a synthetic. For example, one of the most widely consumed vitamins in the U.S. is dl-alpha-tocopherol which is a cheap and synthetic form of vitamin E. Notice the "dl" at the head of the name. Also, some manufacturers mix the natural version of a vitamin with the synthetic version. This is how some supplements can be labeled "natural" while containing synthetic product so make sure to read the ingredients if a natural vitamin is what you are looking for.

A holistic approach to health often overlooked

Sadly, many people would like to pigeon hole our health into tidy little compartments mostly to our detriment. Some mean well enough while others are more intentional. Either way we are left in a terrible mess when we or researchers fail to consider the big picture to our health. The interesting point to make here is that multivitamin and mineral use is only one part of the kaleidoscope that makes for great health. If you want to prevent or reverse cardiovascular issues several things must be done. Limiting oxidative stress and inflammation in conjunction with a healthy eating plan, exercise and mental stress mitigation are all keys to better cardiovascular health. I find it extremely disingenuous to conduct any such study of vitamin and mineral use without considering these additional avenues of approach. No one should believe that just taking a multivitamin is going to be helpful while remaining sedentary, over stressed and filled to the gills with fast food especially if the vitamin is synthetic and crappy! But that is just what the researchers want us to believe and what's sad is some of us will.