January 16, 2018

expert reaction to study looking at safety of statins for children with familial hypercholesterolaemia

Statins are safe for children living with genetically high cholesterol reports a new study, published in the Journal of Clinical Lipidology.

Prof. Jane Armitage, Professor of Clinical Trials and Epidemiology, University of Oxford, said:

“Randomized trials have clearly shown that statins are both safe and effective at lowering cholesterol in children.  This small observational study of children with familial hypercholesterolaemia from the national register agrees with that conclusion.  Children with familial hypercholesterolaemia will have had raised cholesterol levels since birth putting them at risk of future heart disease at a much younger age than other people.  The report points out how few children with FH in the UK are currently diagnosed and treated with statins.  Parents can be reassured by this and other evidence that statins can be safely given to children with FH to reduce their heart disease risk.”

* ‘The UK Paediatric Familial Hypercholesterolaemia Register: Statin-related safety and 1-year growth data’ by Steve E. Humphries et al. published in the Journal of Clinical Lipidology on Tuesday 16 January 2018.

Declared interests

Prof. Jane Armitage: “I have been involved in running large randomized trials of statins and work in the Clinical Trial Service Unit & Epidemiological Studies Unit (CTSU) at the University of Oxford. The CTSU has received research grants from Abbott, AstraZeneca, Bayer, GlaxoSmithKline, Merck, Novartis, Pfizer, Roche, Schering, and Solvay that are governed by University of Oxford contracts that protect its independence, and it has a staff policy of not taking personal payments from industry (with reimbursement sought only for the costs of travel and accommodation to attend scientific meetings).”