Abstract
This study evaluated the effect of a diet with or without pharmacological intervention on serum cholesterol in a group of children with a positive family history of hyperlipidemia or an coronary event before the age of 50 years in first degree relatives. A total of 91 studied children were divided into 5 groups. In Gr.I, both the parents had normal cholesterol levels (N=12). Twenty eight children had only the father (Gr.II, H=17) or the mother (Gr.III, N=11) with high serum cholesterol. In 51, father had myocardial infarction at a young age (<50 yrs.) and mother had either normal (Gr.IV, N=40) or high serum cholesterol (Gr.V, N=11). During an average follow up of 14 months, 8 of the 12 children with abnormal cholesterol levels (mg%) in Gr.I showed slight but a non-significant decrease to dietary therapy (193±33 to 183±31). The results of dietary therapy alone on cholesterol levels were poor during an average period of 2 yrs. in all the other groups. Furthermore, in Gr.V, 5 children with initially abnormal and 4 with normal cholesterol levels demonstrated a significant increase from 222±60 to 248±63 (p<0.04) and 136±4.7 to 182±17.7 (p<0.01). An apparent but a non-significant effect of diet and medication was seen only in children from Gr.III and IV (312±38 to 274±11 and 383±5 to 323±65 respectively).
A dietary therapy should be tried in all. However, children with both affected parents should be treated more aggressively.
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Mehta, S., Gordon, I., Graber, L. et al. 564 LOW FAT AND LOW CHOLESTEROL DIET IN CHILDREN FROM HIGH RISK FAMILIES WITH HYPERLIPIDEMIA. Pediatr Res 19, 204 (1985). https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-198504000-00594
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-198504000-00594