Doctors: Test all kids for cholesterol by age 11
Every child should be tested for high cholesterol as early as age 9 — surprising new advice from a government panel that suggests screening kids in grade school for a problem more common in middle age.
The idea will come as a shock to most parents. And it’s certain to stir debate.
The doctors on the expert panel that announced the new guidelines Friday concede there is little proof that testing now will prevent heart attacks decades later. But many doctors say waiting might be too late for children who have hidden risks.
Fat deposits form in the heart arteries in childhood but don’t usually harden them and cause symptoms until later in life. The panel urges cholesterol screening between ages 9 and 11 — before puberty, when cholesterol temporarily dips — and again between ages 17 and 21.
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The Surprising Reason You’re Always Tired
In 2001, Kim Rhyne gained 20 pounds in six weeks. Normally an energetic women’s ministry leader in Cleveland, she was suddenly so exhausted that she could barely drag herself out of bed. “I wasn’t eating a lot more or doing anything any differently than I had been before,” says Kim. “I had no idea what was going on with my body.”
Knowing that an underactive thyroid often causes these symptoms, Kim’s doctor gave her a blood test to check her thyroid function. When the results came back within the normal range—though just barely—he diagnosed her with depression and started her on antidepressants.
It Wasn’t Depression
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