Ozmpic helps to reduce alcohol consumption in a new study

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Novo NordiskA hit drug for OzEmpic diabetes can also help people drink less alcohol.

This is according to the new financing of the government tests Psychiatry published in Jama Psychiatry last week.

It was a small study involving only 48 adults, which lasted over two months, but it seems that this is the first clinical trial confirming that so-called GLP-1 drugs can help reduce the risk of consuming too much alcohol. Many real data analyzes, along with studies I suggested this link in animals.

Discoveries can be huge for people with alcohol disorder, i.e. when someone cannot stop drinking, even when they expose their health and safety. The condition affects almost 30 million people in the USA and includes what people generally call alcohol abuse, alcohol addiction or alcoholism, According to to the National Survey about drug use and health in 2023.

The authors, alcohol consumption accounts for 2.6 million deaths and increases the risk of common diseases, such as various cancers, the authors wrote. There are already three drugs approved in the event of an alcohol -related disorder, but the authors have found that only a small proportion of patients with the disease receive treatment.

New data increases the growing evidence that GLP-1, such as Ozmpic and its equivalent of slimming Wegova, can help people manage hunger and not only in the case of food and alcohol.

Some preliminary studies have suggested drugs maybe suppressing a desire For smoking, using opioids, gambling and excessive purchases by making it difficult to activate the brain prize routes. GLP-1S imitates hormones produced in the intestines to suppress the appetite of a person and regulate blood sugar levels.

But larger and longer studies will have to confirm the impact of these drugs on addictive behavior.

Let's immerse ourselves in data.

Scientists recruited people aged 21 to 65 who reported symptoms of alcohol disorders, but did not look for it actively. Patients with diabetes and those who previously used GLP-1 drugs or other slimming drugs off From the study.

Patients spent two hours in a laboratory room with preferred alcoholic beverages – once before they began to take any medication in the study, and then to see what has changed. About half of the people took the low doses of semaglutide, an active ingredient in Ozmpic, and in half for nine weeks they received placebo photos.

Throughout the study, they also reported their habits related to drinking and alcohol thirst.

The results suggest that the injections of ozempic reduced weekly alcohol desires, reduced the average number of drinks consumed on drinking days and led to a greater reduction of heavy drinking days compared to placebo. In particular, the impact of ozempic on limiting several drinking results seemed to be greater than often observed in the case of existing drugs that aim to reduce alcohol hunger.

In the second month, the examination of people who took ozempic, saws on average 30% less on alcohol days. Compared to the average reduction by about 2% in the placebo group.

Almost 40% of people who took ozempic did not report hard drinking days in the second month of treatment, compared to 20% in the Placebo group.

The authors of the study noticed that in the study they used the two lowest clinical doses of semaglutide. They added that the higher doses of the drug “would presumably give more influence on alcohol reduction.”

“These data suggest the potential of semaglutide and similar drugs to satisfy the unsatisfied need to treat alcohol consumption,” said the elderly author Klara Klein from the University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Wa statement. “Larger and longer research in wider populations is necessary to fully understand the safety and effectiveness in people with alcohol consumption disorders, but these preliminary findings are promising.”

Among the small subgroup of people who burned, people who took ozempic had a much larger reduction in average cigarettes a day compared to those in the placebo group. This suggests that ozempic can reduce both alcohol and nicotine.

Eli Lilly Plans to examine whether slimming drugs can help treat addictive behaviors such as alcohol and drug abuse. The company said that it would start large -scale clinical trials in 2025.

I invite you to send any tips, suggestions, ideas for history and data to Annika at the address angeliakim.constantino@nbcuni.com.

Because the demand for hits GLP-1 drugs for slimming has increased rapidly in recent years, some patients turned to digital health companies such as Him and her Health, Ro, sesame and noom to gain access to medicines. Primary healthcare doctors do not think it's such a good idea.

Metabolic startup of the Omada health questionnaire From over 2,000 primary care doctors last week who assessed their attitudes towards GLP-1 and various treatment plans. In general, the doctors said they were concerned about external suppliers of teeth.

Less than 20% of surveyed doctors said that they would feel comfortable with the patients using the third-screen screen suppliers to gain access to GLP-1 drugs. Two -thirds of respondents said that it agreed that access to prescriptions via an external screen supplier can expose patients' health.

“It was disturbing, I didn't even think it would be so high,” said President Omada Wei-Li Shao in an interview with CNBC.

OMADA does not rewrite GLP-1, but the company offers an accompanying program that supports patients taking medicines. This is also intended to help patients maintain weight loss if they decide to stop taking medication.

The company stated that the main doctors are worried mainly about the Suppliers of the Third Shot for two reasons: overwriting and continuity of care. In other words, they are worried that patients could access GLP-1 when it is not clinically appropriate, and that they may not receive a support they need thanks to an additional contact point, such as control visits.

In addition, many surveyed doctors are on the fence of the role of complex GLP-1, which are non-standard alternatives to branded drugs designed to meet the needs of a specific patient. Complex drugs can also be produced when there are branded treatments lack.

The FDA does not review the safety and effectiveness of complex products, but they can serve as an alternative to branded medicines for patients who move on complex obstacles to supplies and uneven insurance protection.

About 45% of surveyed doctors said that the complex GLP-1 would not be a long-term delivery strategy, although they agreed that they could be helpful in solving current shortages. And 30% of respondents said that they agreed or strongly agreed that there were convenient rewriting of complex GLP-1.

“Patients or people looking for solutions are confused,” said Shao. “What our position was, talk to your doctor, talk to a primary care physician, who knows you, knows your story, knows what you have, and knows what your goals are, and has a perspective about what This is the right treatment in cooperation with you. “

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I invite you to send any tips, suggestions, history ideas and data to Ashley ashley.capot@nbcuni.com.

A little over a year has passed since the Sierpowatok gene therapy approved by the FDA. But in some respects, breakthrough drugs are still waiting to launch large -scale patients.

With more than half of patients with sickle -covered medicaid, it may be difficult to expand the cover of sickle therapy. States are already facing high medical costs in a joint program with the federal government and are preparing for potential financing cuts in Congress. Private insurers are also in the face of higher medical costs.

CVS Health David Joyner told me private and government health plans looking at new ways of managing the costs of groundbreaking gene therapies.

I invite you to send all tips, suggestions, history ideas and data to Bertha at the address bertha.coomi@nbcuni.com.