Grown-up drugs, little-kid bodies
Cholesterol checks for little kids? That’s the latest advice from the American Academy of Pediatrics. Kids as young as 2 with a family history of heart disease should have their cholesterol levels checked. And those who test poorly may be prescribed cholesterol-lowering drugs starting at 8 years old, the Academy recommends.
More children are being treated for depression, type II diabetes, attention deficit disorder and other health problems with drugs typically prescribed only to adults. The drugs aren’t tested on children because of ethical issues, and the long-term effects are not yet known. Some doctors say the drugs are imperfect but necessary to improve the child’s health.
Have you dealt with issues surrounding prescription drugs and your children? Health reporter Blythe Bernhard is looking for parents to interview for a future story on the topic. You can contact her at 314-565-5401 or bbernhard@post-dispatch.com
Are doctors too permissive with using grown-up drugs on little-kid minds and bodies?
Aisha covered education and breaking news for nearly ten years before joining the Lifestyle staff where she writes a "Dirty Laundry" parenting column. She is the home and family editor and wastes too much time on Facebook and political blogs. 
DRUGS…just the word DRUGS doesn’t sound good. I’ve always been an advocate for good eating and exercise.
Drugs to reduce the effects of bad taste and laziness, to me, is just stupid, and it’s a pity the Phamacuetical Companies prey on these people for profits.
Our entire society and way of living has become excessive and detrimental. We so have the desire for drugs to fix poor decisons and poor behavior.
Hey Steve - ADHD isn’t something that’s fixed with diet and exercise, nor is it caused by eating too much sugar. True ADHD is *genetic*. But thanks for spreading the FUD, really I love having to shoot down people like you all the time.
As a child my parents chose to enhance behavioral therapy with medication, and I’m just fine thanks.
It’s a shame there isn’t a drug for being too sensitive. yikes.
Mike- I’m not so sure you’re ok. You just went off on Steve for nuthin’.
Sure they are using too many drugs on kids. Parents let their kids eat fake colorings, flavorings and sugar, then drug their kids for hyper behavior. Parents surround their kids with stressful lifestyles made up of overscheduling and money chasing, then wonder why they need mind-altering drugs for emotional problems. Docs are happy to oblige because they make a mint off of this ignorance. It’s all about convenience of the parents’ lifestyles. Parents rush their kids for antibiotics when many times sypmtoms are better left to subside on their own. Drug resistant super germs are the result. Yet the same parents, if committing adultery and sleeping around, seldom get tested for STDs. All of a sudden, they don’t want to go the drug and doctor route. America is built on pharmaceutical drugs. Here…take an ambien and sleepwalk for me until morning…
I have always preferred the most conservative approach(first, do no harm) when it comes to the health of my children.We minimize chemical use in our home(like cleaning products, almost no pesticide use unless non-toxic products don’t work),and don’t take much in the way of meds,either.My kids are very seldom sick beyond the common cold, and get enough exercise and outdoor time to be fairly healthy, although genetics plays into this too.As for the ADHD, a book called “Last Child in the Woods” by Richard Louv, makes a good case for kids needing more unstructured outdoor play time for their mental and physical health, instead of being scheduled to death with school and extra-curricular activities.While I agree that ADHD is a real medical problem, I wonder if it is not being over-diagnosed and medicated, when more strenuous exercise might help tremendously in many of the milder cases, and reduce the need for medications.Reducing sugar(they don’t call it a sugar high for nothin’)and improving eating habits should be the first actions taken. I believe many doctors would recommend this,but they can’t MAKE the parents or kids comply.One of the cable channels had a really interesting program called”Honey,We’re Killing the Kids” that should serve as a wake-up call to many parents.I don’t remember what channel, and I don’t know if it is still in production, but it showed all the long-term negative effects of unhealthy lifestyles, and “morphed” the kids to 40 years of age or so, while predicting health problems they would likely face if they didn’t change their habits.That served as the motivation the parents needed to make the changes the family needed.I think many parents will do it for their kids, but not for themselves,but getting the kids to cooperate was still a major challenge.Anyone with kids would understand the difficulties there.
It’s just one more way for pharmaceuticals to expand their “markets”. Children are NOT little adults, they have different biological absorption rates than do adults, which puts them at far greater risk of adverse effects from medications. There is no need for children to take these drugs, indeed the risk is far too great. The predatory pharmaceuticals need to quit hanging out in doctor’s offices, throwing expensive gifts around, flying physicians here and there to woo them, making sweetheart deals with physicians and industry groups who promote their products, and attempting to gain access to our children to expand their already overflowing wallets. Pure greed is behind this terrible “recommendation”.