[Lifestyle] Ozempic and Wegovy may help curb alcohol addiction, study suggests

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The blockbuster drugs Ozempic and Wegovy may help people cut back on drinking, new research published Wednesday in JAMA Psychiatry suggests. 

In a study of around 228,000 people in Sweden who had alcohol use disorder, researchers found that people who were taking a GLP-1 drug like semaglutide were less likely to be hospitalized for alcohol-related issues. 

Just over 28 million adults in the U.S. have alcohol addiction, according to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. 

Only three medicines, however, are approved to treat it.

“The pharmacological treatments available for AUD are not very good, and relapse is really common,” said Alex DiFeliceantonio, an assistant professor at Virginia Tech’s Fralin Biomedical Research Institute.

The study leader, Dr. Markku Lähteenvuo, a psychiatric researcher at Niuvanniemi Hospital in Finland, said: “I see so many patients who do not have good outcomes on the medications we have and who are desperate for help with their addiction. We really do need more tools in the toolbox.” 

GLP-1 drugs — the class of medication that includes semaglutide and other po[CENSORED]r drugs like tirzepatide — have shown potential for treating addiction. 

A clinical trial published in 2022 found that an older GLP-1 drug called exenatide reduced drinking, but only among those who had both alcohol use disorder and obesity. Several other studies have examined drinking habits among people taking GLP-1 drugs who do not have alcohol use disorder. 

In the new study, Lähteenvuo and his team looked at medical records from 228,000 people in Swedish who were diagnosed with alcohol use disorder from 2006 to 2023. All of the people in the study also had obesity or Type 2 diabetes. 

 

Ozempic and Wegovy may help curb alcohol addiction, study suggests