New Injection for Type 2 Diabetes

• 22 Jun 2019

• The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Victoza (liraglutide) injection for treatment of pediatric patients 10 years or older with type 2 diabetes.
• Victoza is the first non-insulin drug approved to treat type 2 diabetes in pediatric patients since metformin was approved for pediatric use in 2000.
• Victoza has been approved to treat adult patients with type 2 diabetes since 2010.
• It has now been shown to improve blood sugar control in pediatric patients with type 2 diabetes.
  
  • The expanded indication provides an additional treatment option at a time when an increasing number of children are being diagnosed with this disease.
• Although type 2 diabetes primarily occurs in patients over the age of 45, the prevalence rate among younger patients has been rising dramatically over the past couple of decades.
• Victoza improves blood sugar levels by creating the same effects in the body as the glucagon-like peptide (GLP-1) receptor protein in the pancreas.
  
  • GLP-1 is often found in insufficient levels in type 2 diabetes patients.
  • Like GLP-1, Victoza slows digestion, prevents the liver from making too much glucose (a simple sugar), and helps the pancreas produce more insulin when needed.
• Victoza is not a substitute for insulin and is not indicated for patients with type 1 diabetes or those with diabetic ketoacidosis, a condition associated with diabetes where the body breaks down fat too quickly because there is inadequate insulin or none at all.
• The patients who have had, or have family members who have ever had Medullary Thyroid Carcinoma (MTC) should not use Victoza.
  
  • Medullary carcinoma of the thyroid (MTC) is a distinct thyroid carcinoma that originates in the parafollicular C cells of the thyroid gland.

Diabetes

Diabetes is a condition that impairs the body's ability to process blood glucose, otherwise known as blood sugar.

• Types
  
  • Type I diabetes: Also known as juvenile diabetes, this type occurs when the body fails to produce insulin. People with type I diabetes are insulin-dependent, which means they must take artificial insulin daily to stay alive.
  • Type 2 diabetes: It affects the way the body uses insulin. While the body still makes insulin, unlike in type I, the cells in the body do not respond to it as effectively as they once did.
    
    • This is the most common type of diabetes and it has strong links with obesity.
  • Gestational diabetes: This type occurs in women during pregnancy when the body can become less sensitive to insulin. Gestational diabetes does not occur in all women and usually resolves after giving birth.