Double Use of Diabetes Drugs

Diabetes drugs have been in use but between 2002 and 2005, girls in the range of 10 and 14 years old showed a 166% increase in the use of type 2 diabetes medications. They say the reason is obesity which is linked to type 2 diabetes. This was reported at the annual meeting of the American Public Health Association.

The reporters were the researchers from the School of Medicine of Saint Louis University and pharmacy manager Express Scripts. They also examined patterns for cholesterol, asthma, blood pressure and depression medications.

Emily R. Cox, PhD, the senior director of Express Scripts said that in the four years they studied there was an increase use of medication. Males between 15 and 19 years old increased their blood pressure medication by 15.4% while the females of the same age group decreased their use of antihypertensives by 1.6%.

It was different though for the same females with regards to taking an anti-depressant because this increased by 6.8%. All in all, the patterns show the changing prescribing actions by physicians, the rising risk factors for chronic conditions like prescribing type 2 anti diabetics, antihyperlipidemics, more office visits and therefore screening rates especially for females. The trend is for the greater use of drugs as the preferred way to treat children with these chronic conditions.

Newer research work has shown the increase in medications prescribed for children that were usually given to adults who suffer from chronic conditions. And now more and more children are given the same medicines to treat cholesterol, high blood pressure and diabetes.

This should wake all of us up into getting into the habit of eating healthy. The children are so used to eating pastries and donuts that there is really no other way but to get fat. And where did they learn this from? Of course, they learned that from us. It is our job therefore to reverse that habit and learn to choose healthier fare among the diabetes-food-list.

The researchers said this may be due the improved awareness of these conditions being present in children including the increased risk of the factors related to heart problems due to the epidemic of obesity. It looks like that about 20% of adolescents and children are obese or overweight.