Children as young as two may be given statin drugs if their cholesterol levels are dangerously high, new guidelines for American doctors suggest.
Screening should certainly start from that age if the child has a family history of dyslipidemia or premature cardiovascular disease, the American Academy of Pediatrics is recommending.
Standard treatment should be a dietary change and greater exercise but, as a last resort, a statin drug could be used. Up to now, only those children aged eight and above with high concentrations of LDL cholesterol have been prescribed a statin, but this may be reduced to as low as two years of age in exceptional cases.
(Source: Pediatrics, 2008; 1: 198-208).