Ozempic could be used to help curb drinking and prescription drug addiction

Research has suggested that ‘miracle’ weight loss shots could help reduce alcohol and substance abuse problems.

The drugs, including Mounjaro, Ozempic and Wegovy, have been hailed as a monumental advance in the war on obesity.

Now, according to US experts, the injections could also cut alcohol poisoning and opioid overdoses by nearly half.

The researchers couldn’t be sure why the drugs, collectively known as GLP-1 agonists, might help in this way.

But they called the findings “significant” and said the shots “should be investigated” as a new addiction treatment, but warned 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 advance in the war against obesity.

Fares Qeadan, associate professor of biostatistics at Loyola University Chicago and lead 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 use”. disorders’.

The drugs, beloved by Hollywood stars, stimulate weight loss by mimicking the actions of a hormone released in the gut after eating, called GLP-1.

In the study, researchers evaluated 503,747 people with a history of opioid use disorder.

Of these, more than 8,100 had a prescription for the shots.

They found that those with a prescription had a 40% lower opioid overdose rate compared to those without a prescription.

Of the 817,309 volunteers evaluated with an alcohol use disorder, more than 5,600 had a jab prescription.

There was a 50 percent lower rate of poisoning compared to those without a prescription.

Writing in the journal Addiction, the 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 pharmacotherapy treatment option for people with opioid or alcohol use disorders,” they said.

But future research must first investigate the effects of using the jabs in this way “more thoroughly and dig into the short- and long-term impacts,” they said.

Matt Field, professor of psychology at the University of Sheffield, who was not affiliated with the research, also said: “These findings add to those of other studies, particularly animal research, which suggest that this and other similar drugs they could one day be prescribed to help people with addiction.

“A note of caution is that the results are very extreme cases of substance intoxication.”

Scientists often measure abstinence, or whether a person has reduced their use of a substance, which this research did not.

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 they say to the body to stop eating and avoid cravings

Of the 817,309 volunteers evaluated with an alcohol use disorder, more than 5,600 had a jab prescription. There was a 50 percent lower rate of poisoning 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 help them reduce their consumption of substances, or to abstain altogether.’

It comes after Health Secretary Wes Streeting revealed this week that the government wants to use the bumps to boost the economy and get obese people out of work back into work.

Weight-related diseases cost the economy £74 billion a year, with overweight people at increased risk of heart disease, cancer and type 2 diabetes.

Two in three Britons are classed as overweight or obese and NHS figures show that people have now weighed around a stone over 30 years.

The NHS is preparing the mass rollout of weight loss shots to 1.6 million patients.

The most serious and ill will be targeted first, the Government said last month.

But the heads of health have also warned that plans to distribute obesity blows to the NHS the risk of overwhelming an already stressed service.

In an email to trust leaders this week, seen by the Mail, NHS England chief executive Amanda Pritchard warned that plans to roll out obesity shots across the NHS risked being overwhelmed an already extended service.

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, therefore reducing appetite and helping people lose weight as a result.

Semaglutide has been available on the NHS since 2019 and in the US since 2017, for type 2 diabetics. control blood sugar levels.

Another semaglutide drug was also approved in Britain for weight loss in 2022 and in the US in 2021, under the brand name Wegovy.

Like any medicine, semaglutide can cause side effects that vary in frequency and severity. Reported problems include nausea, constipation, diarrhea, fatigue, stomach pain, headaches, and dizziness.

Strange symptoms, such as hair loss, have also been reported among some patients.