Researchers at the University of Cambridge have released a new study claiming that children as young as 15 should take statin drugs to reduce their risk of heart attack or stroke.
With so many young people developing heart issues due to Operation Warp Speed, medical experts are apparently scrambling for solutions, even going so far as to push dangerous heart medications on young people.
(Related: Did you know that statin drugs are actually mitochondrial toxins that cause heart disease rather than prevent it?)
According to the research team, high or fluctuating cholesterol in childhood can lead to a condition of the heart called atherosclerosis. Fatty deposits build up over time in the arterial system causing blockages in the blood supply, which in turn can lead to fatal heart attacks and strokes.
Lead author Prof. Ziad Mallat, a cardiologist, says minor children should start taking statin drugs for cholesterol if "lifestyle measures have failed."
For their paper, Mallat and his team fed two groups of rodents a fat-rich diet full of "bad" cholesterol. The rats ate the high-fat food either intermittently or continuously.
"When I asked my group and a number of people who are experts in atherosclerosis, no one could tell me what the result would be," Mallat, a British Heart Foundation (BHF) expert in cardiovascular medicine, said. "Some people thought it would make no difference. Others thought it would change the risk."
"In fact, what we found was that an intermittent high fat diet starting while the mice were still young – one week on, a few weeks off, another week on, and so on – was the worst option in terms of atherosclerosis risk."
High cholesterol in childhood linked to clogged arteries as an adult
Fluctuating cholesterol levels are dangerous because the constant change can damage protective immune cells known as resident arterial macrophages. When these macrophages become damaged, the early stages of atherosclerosis often manifest.
Intermittently high cholesterol can prevent resident arterial macrophages from becoming protective like they are supposed to and instead accelerate the development of atherosclerosis.
For the people portion of their research, Mallat and his colleagues looked at 2,000 people between the ages of three and 12 who were first recruited to participate in heart research back in the 1980s. Currently, these people are between 30 and 50 years old.
All of the participants had ultrasounds on their carotid arteries as adults. Those who showed high cholesterol levels as children were more likely today to have the largest build-up of plaque in their arteries.
"What this means is that we shouldn't leave it until later in life before we start to look at our cholesterol levels," Mallat said.
"Atherosclerosis can potentially be prevented by lowering cholesterol levels, but we clearly need to start thinking about this much earlier on in life than we previously thought."
In speaking to the media about his findings, Mallat said that increased awareness about the risks is needed, followed by "screening" programs that look for artery blockages earlier in life so more children can be prescribed statins.
"Our studies suggest that we should think about increasing public awareness of the detrimental impact of high cholesterol levels even early in life," Mallat added. "Increasing awareness is the first step, then this could be followed later by putting in place 'screening' programs at a much earlier age than it is currently done."
Mallat believes that the age range of 15-18 is a good time for children to start getting screened for heart problems as this is a "sensitive" time in a person's life.
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