Current treatment options for type 2 diabetes mellitus in youth: today's realities and lessons from the TODAY study.

The incidence of type 2 diabetes in children and adolescents has increased over the last 2 decades, paralleled by an increase in obesity over the same time period. Although the value of lifestyle modification in obese youth is unquestioned, scant evidence for optimal treatment of type 2 diabetes in this age group exists. Despite recent therapeutic drug trials, metformin and insulin are the only medicines currently approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of type 2 diabetes in youth. Because of recently amended pharmaceutical regulations, however, it is likely that more antidiabetic medications soon will be added to the armamentarium of therapeutic options for youth with type 2 diabetes. Additionally, the recently published TODAY study comparing safety and efficacy of three treatment regimens in maintaining glycemic control in youth with type 2 diabetes has shed new light on the problem.