Medco report shows large increase of children on adult medications

FRANKLIN LAKES, N.J. Medco Health Solutions has released a new report showing that the number of children taking adult-type medications to treat such diseases as type 2 diabetes, sleeping problems and gastrointestinal disorders has more than doubled in a seven-year span. Based on this data, there are now approximately 1.2 million children in the U.S. taking these traditionally adult medications.

According to the research, use of type 2 diabetes medications saw the greatest increase, rising more than 150 percent from 2001 to 2007; girls led the way with a threefold increase. The prevalence of children on proton pump inhibitors, medications used to treat heartburn and gastrointestinal reflux disease, rose 137 percent in the same time frame. Prescription sleep aid use showed the slowest growth over the seven-year period, up 34 percent among all children; but was almost twice as high (62 percent) for children ages 10-19.

The analysis, which reviewed prescription claims of about 600,000 insured children ages 19 and under, also revealed that heart disease-related conditions are creeping into childhood. While the prevalence rate is still quite small, the use of medications to treat high cholesterol and high blood pressure in children is on the rise.