‘Miracle’ weight loss injections could help reduce alcohol and substance abuse problems, research suggests.
The drugs, including Mounjaro, Ozempic and Wegovy, have been hailed as a monumental breakthrough in the war against obesity.
Now, according to American experts, the injections could also reduce alcohol poisoning and opioid overdoses by almost half.
Researchers couldn’t be sure why the drugs, known collectively as GLP-1 agonists, might help in this way.
But they called the findings “significant” and said the injections “should be investigated” as a new treatment for addiction, although they cautioned that more research was needed.
Semaglutide, tirzepatide and liraglutide (the active ingredient in drugs such as Mounjaro, Ozempic and Wegovy) have been hailed as a monumental breakthrough in the war against obesity.
Fares Qeadan, associate professor of biostatistics at Loyola University Chicago and senior author of the study, said the findings “provide significant initial evidence that GLP-1 receptor agonists, such as semaglutide, are associated with reduced rates of overdose and intoxication in patients with opioid and alcohol consumption”. disorders’.
The drugs, loved by Hollywood stars, stimulate weight loss by mimicking the actions of a hormone released in the intestine after eating, called GLP-1.
In the study, researchers evaluated 503,747 people with a history of opioid use disorder.
Of those, more than 8,100 had a prescription for the injections.
They found that those with a prescription had a 40 percent lower rate of opioid overdose compared to people without a prescription.
Of the 817,309 volunteers evaluated with an alcohol use disorder, more than 5,600 had an injection prescription.
There was a 50 percent lower poisoning rate compared to those without a prescription.
writing in the diary AddictionThe researchers said the findings could have “significant implications for both clinical practice and public health policy in the coming years.”
They also show that “GLP-1 and other related drugs should be investigated as a new pharmacotherapeutic treatment option for people with opioid or alcohol use disorder,” they said.
But future research must first investigate the effects of using punches in this way “more thoroughly, as well as delve into the short- and long-term impacts,” they said.
Matt Field, professor of psychology at the University of Sheffield, who was not involved in the research, also said: “These findings add to those of other studies, particularly animal research, which suggest that this and other similar medications. to help people with addiction.
“A note of caution is that the results are very extreme cases of substance poisoning.”
Scientists often measure abstinence, or whether a person has reduced their use of a substance, something this research did not do.
Ozempic and its sister drug Wegovy work by causing the body to bind to a receptor called glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1), a protein that triggers the release of hormones in the brain that keep the stomach full and tell the body stop eating and avoid cravings
Of the 817,309 volunteers evaluated with an alcohol use disorder, more than 5,600 had an injection prescription. There was a 50 percent lower poisoning rate compared to those without a prescription.
He added: “This leaves open the possibility that while Ozempic may, for currently unknown reasons, prevent people from taking so much alcohol or heroin (that) they overdose and end up in hospital, it may not actually help them.” to reduce their substance use. , or abstain altogether.’
It comes after Health Secretary Wes Streeting revealed this week that the government wants to use the jabs to boost the economy and get unemployed obese people back to work.
Weight-related illnesses cost the economy £74 billion a year, and overweight people are at higher risk of heart disease, cancer and type 2 diabetes.
Two in three Britons are classed as overweight or obese and NHS figures show people now weigh around a stone than they did more than 30 years ago.
The NHS is preparing for a mass rollout of weight-loss vaccines to 1.6 million patients.
They will go to the most serious and sick first, the Government said last month.
But health chiefs have also warned that plans to distribute obesity blows in the National Health Service They risk overwhelming an already overloaded service.
In an email to trust leaders this week, seen by the Mail, NHS England chief executive Amanda Pritchard warned that plans to deliver blows against obesity in the NHS risk overwhelming an already struggling service. itself overloaded.
The injections have been shown to help users lose up to 33 pounds (15.3 kg) on average over 68 weeks.
They work by tricking the brain into thinking it is full, which dramatically reduces appetite and, as a result, helps people lose weight.
Semaglutide has been available on the NHS since 2019 and in the US since 2017, so that type 2 diabetics control blood sugar levels.
Another drug, semaglutide, was also approved in Britain for weight loss in 2022 and in the United States in 2021, under the brand name Wegovy.
Like any medication, semaglutide can cause side effects that vary in both frequency and severity. Reported problems include nausea, constipation, diarrhea, fatigue, stomach pain, headaches and dizziness.
Some patients have also reported strange symptoms, such as hair loss.