Prescription data from three organizations shows that a growing number of American children are taking medications for obesity-related conditions.

"The numbers... indicate that hundreds of thousands of children are taking medication to treat type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and acid reflux - all problems linked to obesity that were practically unheard of in children two decades ago."

The greatest increase was in type 2 diabetes medication, which saw a 151 percent jump between 2001 and 2007. Source: The New York Times

Labels: diabetes, medications, side-effects

Should eight-year-olds take anti-cholesterol medications? Yes, say new guidelines from the American Academy of Pediatrics.

The new advice calls for doctors to screen all children ages two to ten for risk factors of heart disease (such as childhood obesity or family histories). If a child's cholesterol readings are too high, and if lifestyle changes such as better diet and more exercise do not help, then the AAP advises doctors to prescribe statin drugs - even to children as young as eight.

"We're in an epidemic," said Dr. Jatinder Bhatia, professor of neonatology at the Medical College of Georgia. "The risk of giving statins at a lower age is less than the benefit you're going to get out of it."

Others disagree, with many pointing out that because the drugs have only been around since the mid-1980s, no one is sure of the long-term effects they may have on the children to whom they are given.

Labels: cholesterol, medications, pediatricians

An influential group of doctors from the American Academy of Pediatrics has caused a heated debate by recommending that some children as young as eight be given the cholesterol-lowering medication statins. Statins has been shown to lower cholesterol in adults, but its effects on children are not well-known.

"The authors of the recommendation from the American Academy of Pediatrics concluded that there is enough indirect evidence to suggest that starting treatment early makes sense in children with extremely high levels of cholesterol... They call for cholesterol testing for millions of children ages 2 to 10 who have a family history of early heart disease or have other risk factors such as being overweight or having high blood pressure."

Under the recommended guidelines, less than one percent of children would be considered for the medication. Despite that, many doctors and other medical experts warn that too little is known about how statins affect children. Others are concerned that medication will replace preventative programs that focus on diet and exercise. Source: The Morning Call

Labels: cholesterol, medications

Dr. Fuad Ziai, a pediatric endocrinologist in Oak Lawn, Illinois, prescribed Adderall, a drug typically prescribed to treat attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD to an 11-year-old patient who was 30 pounds overweight. Adderall is in the amphetamine family and are well-known appetite suppressants.

"Ziai's approach to treating obesity - he says he has prescribed Adderall for weight loss to about 800 children and teens - raises an important ethical question: Has the obesity epidemic among children become so severe that it's OK to prescribe a drug not approved for weight loss when the drug can have serious, sometimes life-threatening side effects?"

The child's parents say they'd do again – they say that their son avoided developing diabetes because of the Adderall.

But, the Food and Drug Administration warns that some who take Adderall develop psychiatric problems and pediatricians say it's wrong to prescribe Adderall for weight loss. Read more at CNN.com.

Labels: diabetes, ethics, medications