The weekly semaglutide taking helps reduce the consumption of alcohol and cigarettes.
- In adults with disorders related to alcohol consumption, benefit once a week of semaglutide reduces the amount of alcohol consumed.
- Thanks to the Ozempic, people who smoke also experienced a significantly greater drop in the average number of cigarettes per day.
- From now on, longer research on wider populations must be carried out to confirm the safety and efficiency of this medication.
For years, people taking analogues from GLP-1, such as semaglutide, better known as ozempic for diabetes and Wegovy for obesity, have noted that these drugs were not content to brake their desire to eat. For some, they also led them to drink less alcohol. Recently confirmed effects by a study published in the journal Jama Psychiatry. As part of this work, researchers at the University of South California in Los Angeles (United States) identified, from September 2022 to February 2024, 504 adults suffering from disorders related to alcohol consumption, which does not did not actively look for treatment, in an American university medical center. Among them, 48 people were recruited. In participants, alcohol consumption disorders were defined by a series of possible symptoms, including the inability to stop or control its consumption despite the negative consequences.
Tobacco, alcohol: the ozempic seems promising to drink and smoke less
Volunteers consumed more than seven (for women) or more than 14 (for men) conventional drinks during a week during the previous month, and had two episodes of high alcohol consumption or more (4 drinks Or more for women and five or more for men). A week before the first injection of semaglutide, scientists invited adults to drink their favorite alcoholic drinks over a period of two hours, with the instruction to reduce consumption if they wanted. They were then distributed at random in two groups to receive low -dose weekly injections (0.25 mg/week for four weeks, 0.5 mg/week for four weeks and 1 mg for a week) of Ozempic or a placebo for nine weeks. During this intervention, their weekly consumption habits were measured.
A decrease in the amount of alcohol consumed
The results have shown that, compared to placebo, the low -dose semaglutide decreased the amount of alcohol consumed. During the last month of treatment, the people of the group having taken Ozempic considerably reduced their number of days of high alcohol consumption. In addition, almost 40 % of participants did not report any day of high alcohol consumption during the last month of treatment, compared to 20 % in the placebo group. “”Significant interaction between treatment and time indicated that semaglutide treatment provides for more important reductions in the number of cigarettes per day in a sub-sample of volunteers smoking currently cigarettes “, Can we also read in research.
“The popularity of Ozempic increases the chances of a generalized adoption of these treatments”
In conclusions, the authors indicate that the extent of the effects of the semaglutide on several results of alcohol consumption was relatively greater than what is often observed with existing treatments to reduce the desires to drink alcohol . “The popularity of Ozempic and other agonists of the GLP-1 receptor increases the chances of a generalized adoption of these treatments for disorders linked to alcohol consumption”, They said before adding that longer studies on broader populations are necessary to fully understand safety and efficiency in people with disorders related to alcohol consumption.
