Study says Ozempic is more effective in treating this addiction than other drugs: study

Another day, another study linking Ozempic to major health benefits.

Ppublished Wednesday in JAMA Psychiatry, the study revealed that patients diagnosed with alcohol use disorder (AUD) who were given a GLP-1 drug were less likely to be hospitalized for alcohol-related issues.

In fact, they found that it works even better than the current most effective alcoholism treatment drug on the market.

According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, over 28 million adults in the US suffer from AUD.

Only three medications are currently approved for the treatment of AUD, and expert opinion says that these options are not suitable for all patients and relapse is common.

“I see so many patients who are not doing well with the medications we have and who are desperate for help with their addiction,” said study leader Dr. Markku Lähteenvuo. “We really need more tools in the toolbox.”

Currently, the anti-addiction drug naltrexone is the most effective drug approved for AUD, reducing the risk of hospitalization by 14%.

GLP-1 drugs treat diabetes and stimulate weight loss by mimicking the natural GLP-1 hormone, which signals the body that it is full.

But the study found that semaglutide (which is sold under brand names such as Ozempic and Wegovy) and liraglutide (which is sold under the brand name Victoza) reduced the risk of hospitalization by 22% and 21%, respectively.

Lähteenvuo and his team analyzed the medical records of 228,000 people diagnosed with alcohol use disorder from 2006 to 2023. All of these patients also had obesity or type 2 diabetes.

Over the course of the study, 60% of participants were hospitalized for alcohol use, but alcohol-related hospitalizations were dramatically lower among people who received a GLP-1 drug.

Approximately 75,000 study participants were given a medication to treat AUD. Within this subgroup, the team documented 30,000 hospitalizations.

Of approximately 4,300 people prescribed semaglutide, there were 220 reports of hospitalization for AUD. Other participants who took older GLP-1 drugs, including liraglutide and dulaglutide, also reported fewer hospitalizations.

Lähteenvuo said the relationship between GLP-1 drugs and alcohol consumption may be relative to the sugar content of the drink, since GLP-1 drugs make sugary drinks less appealing.

Along with food, Ozempic users have reported fewer cravings for alcohol, drugs, and nicotine.

The US Food and Drug Administration approved Ozempic in 2017 to treat type 2 diabetes in adults and Wegovy in 2021 for adult weight loss. Since its approval, researchers have tested Ozempic’s effect on other chronic diseases, such as colorectal cancer, osteoarthritis and brain disorders.

Research published earlier this year found that GLP-1 drugs may be able to treat alcohol and opioid addiction by affecting dopamine levels in the brain. These types of drugs interact with the mesolimbic system—a major reward center in the brain that overlaps with the brain processes that regulate addictive behaviors.

According to the World Health Organization, alcohol abuse is responsible for 5.1% of the global burden of disease.

More than 5% of all cancer cases are caused by drinking alcohol, according to the 2024 Cancer Progress Report from the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR).

Lähteenvuo notes that while more research is needed, drugs like Ozempic may offer hope to those burdened by addiction, “Our study suggests that in addition to obesity and diabetes, GLP-1 agonists may also help treat use disorders of alcohol and substances; however, these findings need to be further validated in randomized controlled trials.”