
Type 2 Diabetes Medication Used for Type 1
Do people with Type 1 diabetes take medications for Type 2 diabetes?
The other day, Myra came to my clinic for her initial assessment for Diabetes Self-Management Education. As we were going through her list of medications, I discovered that she was taking liraglutide (Victoza), but her diagnosis was clearly Type 1 diabetes.
Myra stated that her endocrinologist had prescribed the medication. He informed her that this was becoming more common. I had heard that patients with Type 1 diabetes were being prescribed GLP-1 non-insulin injections for their Type 1 Diabetes, specifically liraglutide.
I had also heard about SGLT2 inhibitors were being used for Type 1 diabetes, but I had heard about an increased incidence of diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) with these medications for Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes patients. Since inquiring minds want to know, I decided to investigate both.
Liraglutide for Type 1 diabetes in the news
In August, 2015, Novo Nordisk made a decision not to pursue liraglutide for Type 1 diabetes with the Federal Drug Administration (FDA). This decision came after the second trial for the FDA approval was completed. In the trial, researchers compared the addition of liraglutide to insulin therapy with a control group on standard insulin therapy. Novo Nordisk concluded that the results were not quite good enough, and decided not to pursue the FDA approval for liraglutide for Type 1 diabetes.
Benefits of liraglutide in Type 1 patients
In the study, when taking liraglutide, Type 2 patients saw a lower A1C, significant weight loss, and decreased number of episodes of hypo
Continue
reading