Children's Lipids Clinic?

I should add that he is on the high end of the scale for both height and weight. Both parents are on statins, as well as an adult brother. Heart disease is in both sides of my family, although none are obese. He was unable to exercise this summer due to an injury but has just started swimming again this week.

Not with this clinic, no, but I would say that they will certainly set you up with a dietician to work with you to change your child's diet. If your son has a weight problem, they will want him to lose weight.

It is not usual to give children statins because there haven't been studies on children to prove their safety. One thing that they MAY tell you is that when your son goes through puberty, he may be somewhat protected by the puberty from heart damage as far as the HDL and LDL are concerned. I DON'T know what they would say about the triglycerides, however. I would think that they are more worried about the triglycerides, though high cholesterol numbers are certainly an issue.

Exercise helps the LDL number go down. But to get the HDL lower, his diet has to change.

Another thing they will want to know is the family history. Do you know your and your husband's family histories where cholesterol is concerned? If you don't, call your families up and talk to them about it. It is important for the doctors to know if this is hereditary.

Good luck - I hope that they can help your son.

Dawn

Personally I don't buy into the whole 'cholesterol is bad for you' nonsense.
It's a major building block and is crucial to growth and development.
I see an organization with a name like 'Lipids Clinic' and I see a whole sale statin marketing organization.
People with low cholesterol levels also have heart attacks and hardening of the arteries.
I'll go out on a limb here but I think 50 years from now, they are going to do a 180 and say that artificially lowering cholesterol is a bad thing to do.
If most if not all of the population has 'high' cholesterol, doesn't that make it a normal condition?
How is it abnormal if most everyone has it?
Perhaps it is the naturally low cholesterol people who are abnormal?
Do what you feel is right, but I just don't believe the current lines of thought surrounding this issue.
When they can tell me more about what causes irritation of the arteries which causes plaque to build up inside them, I'll be ready to listen.

No idea, but I would get his thyroid checked. Hypothyroidism is most common cause of high cholesterol after diet, and can also cause high triglycerides.