United States: Since last year, patients on Ozempic, along with other medications in this drug category for diabetes and weight management, noticed that the treatments suppress appetite effectively and also lead to lower alcohol consumption for certain users.
More about the news
The first trial results from clinical research validated the findings, although its participant base was small and had a restricted trial period.
Using low doses of semaglutide for nine weeks effectively reduced both alcohol consumption and alcohol cravings among 48 people showing moderate alcohol-use disorder symptoms but only under placebo treatment.
Scientific evidence already suggested that since GLP-1 medicines had proven highly successful in treatment, they demonstrated potential for alcohol use prevention based on studies in larger and longer trials.
What more are the experts stating?
According to Dr. Christian Hendershot, director of clinical research at the USC Institute for Addiction Science and the lead author of the study, “We hoped to see a reduction in drinking and craving,” CNN Health reported.
“What I didn’t expect was the magnitude of the effects looks fairly good … compared to other alcohol-use disorder medications,” Hendershot added.
Auditory patients total 30 million people in the United States based on the 2023 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, which defines this condition through continued alcohol consumption despite adverse effects.
Dr. Vivek Murthy issued a warning through his advisory role as US Surgeon General by stating that drinking alcohol can trigger seven different types of cancer, and he advocated for new warning labels to appear on alcoholic beverages, CNN Health reported.
Future research about Ozempic treatment requires extended trials involving heavy alcohol victims of the disorder, according to subject matter experts who evaluated patient data.
The US Food and Drug Administration for AUD approved three medicines. However, less than two percent of people with the disorder receive treatment with them, as stated by Hendershot and his co-authors in their paper.
They also mentioned that few people might be aware of them, where the stigma may pose a barrier to treatment.