This expanded indication for a non-insulin injectable in the pediatric population is wonderful news. There are at least 45,000 children diagnosed with type 2 diabetes every year. The numbers may, in fact, even be higher, especially in minority populations. Type 2 diabetes comes with obesity. Until now, we only had two drugs approved for this population beyond lifestyle modification, which can be difficult for children. The only oral medication approved for children with type 2 diabetes is metformin. Initially, it was difficult to convince clinicians to treat children with this drug, but, eventually, they did. At the end of the day, clinicians will again need to be educated with respect to prescribing liraglutide for this population. This drug has been on the market for almost 10 years. We are very familiar with it, and it is safe. It requires one injection per day, improves both fasting blood glucose and postprandial glucose, works well with metformin, and also helps with weight loss, which is so important in this population. I hope Novo Nordisk will embark on a strong education effort, both to identify children with obesity and type 2 diabetes, and work with the clinicians who are managing them.
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Yehuda Handelsman, MD, FACP, FNLA, MACE
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Endocrine Today Editorial Board Member
Medical Director and Principal Investigator
The Metabolic Institute of America
Tarzana, California
Disclosures: Handelsman reports he has received research grants, consultant and speakers’ fees or honoraria from Aegerion, Amarin, Amgen, AstraZeneca, Boehringer Ingelheim, BI-Lilly, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Eisai, Gan & Lee, Grifols, Hanmi, Intarcia, Janssen, Lexicon, Lilly, Merck, Novo Nordisk, Regeneron and Sanofi.