Kids may Benefit from Cholesterol Testing

US doctors have said that children can get some crucial benefits by undergoing cholesterol testing.

Dr. William Neal of West Virginia University in Morgantown, who was the lead researcher in the current study, said that giving cholesterol-lowering statins to kids would help reduce the risk of heart disease in middle age.

Data from more than 20,000 children who had been screened at public schools in West Virginia was included in the study. The researchers found that one in five fifth-graders had high cholesterol levels.

"I have gradually become convinced that universal screening in children is not only preferable, but necessary," said Neal. "It is therefore prudent to implement universal screening in the pediatric population independent of family history."

The details of the study appear in the journal Pediatrics.


Source: Medindia