Causes of Premature Atherosclerosis In the Young

Video Transcript

"Hi, I'm Dr. David Hill, and today we're going to be talking about causes of premature atherosclerosis in the young. What we're talking about here is disease in the blood vessels. We think most about the blood vessels around the heart, but atherosclerosis also causes disease in other parts of the body. It causes strokes of the brain. It causes claudication of the arteries, usually in the legs. It can even lead to kidney disease. This is a deposition of fat and fibrous tissue that builds up inside all of our arteries, and it's a normal part of the aging process, but it's not a good thing to happen and it can be slowed down. We're learning more and more that atherosclerosis begins during childhood, and so we're focusing more and more on slowing down atherosclerosis at that time during childhood when it gets its start. So how do we do that? We concentrate on a diet for children that's healthy, just like a good adult diet should be. There should be plenty of fruits and vegetables in the diet, and not so much in the way of animal fats and even dairy fat. In fact, this year, we're recommending that children's milk now, rather than being whole milk, should be two percent or even one percent, all to try and prevent atherosclerosis. If you have a strong family history of atherosclerosis, you or one of your close relatives has had heart disease or brain disease or kidney disease in the vessels, it's very important to let your doctor know that so that he might start checking your child's cholesterol levels early. You may have a familial disorder of cholesterol and that can be checked and dealt with during childhood. Also, if your child is becoming overweight or obese, you really want to work aggressively with your child's doctor on dealing with that problem. We know that childhood obesity is an incredibly strong predictor of adult atherosclerosis, and even of early death. It's a problem you really can't take too seriously. So remember, your child needs to eat healthy, exercise. And if you have a family history of atherosclerosis or you're worried your child might be overweight, be sure you let your child's physician know that so that you can work together to keep your child healthy for his or her entire long life. Talking about early atherosclerosis in children, I'm Dr. David Hill."