A Daily GLP-1 Pill Could Curb Heavy Drinking
A clinical trial suggests that daily oral semaglutide, the active ingredient in Ozempic, may help reduce heavy drinking days for individuals with alcohol use disorder. While the drug did not decrease overall cravings, participants reported fewer negative consequences and reduced alcohol consumption on drinking days.
Why it matters
This research highlights the potential for repurposing popular weight-loss medications to treat various forms of addiction, offering a new therapeutic avenue for substance use disorders.
A GLP-1 pill a day might help keep problem drinking at bay, a recent trial has found.
Researchers at the University of Colorado Anschutz conducted a small randomized trial of once-daily oral semaglutide, the active ingredient in Ozempic and Wegovy, for people with alcohol use disorder. Compared to those taking a placebo, people on semaglutide reported fewer days of heavy drinking, among other improvements. The findings are the latest to suggest that GLP-1s could have another life as a treatment for addiction.
“Efforts to repurpose semaglutide for [alcohol use disorder] should continue apace,” the authors wrote in their paper, published Wednesday in The American Journal of Psychiatry.
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