Ozempic can help with blood sugar management, aid with significant weight loss, and perhaps even treat opioid use disorder. Now, there’s one more thing to add to the list: alcohol addiction.
New research finds that semaglutide medications like Ozempic and Wegovy may help to lower the risk of alcohol-related issues. More than 28 million adults in the U.S. struggle with alcohol, according to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, making this an important discovery.
But what’s behind this phenomenon? Here’s what to know right now.
Meet the expert: Tyler J. Varisco, PharmD, PhD, an assistant professor in the Department of Pharmaceutical Health Outcomes of Policy and assistant director for Research Development in the Prescription Drug Misuse Education and Research Center at the University of Houston College of Pharmacy.
What did the study find?
For the study, which was published in JAMA Psychiatry on November 13, researchers analyzed data from about 228,000 people in Sweden with alcohol use disorder. The researchers found that people who were taking a GLP-1 receptor agonist medication like semaglutide had a lower chance of being hospitalized for alcohol-related issues.
The researchers concluded that GLP-1 receptor agonist medications—especially semaglutide—”offer promise as a novel treatment to reduce alcohol consumption and to prevent development of alcohol-related outcomes.”
Does Ozempic lower the risk of alcohol-related hospitalizations?
In this particular study, it did. Of the 4,300 individuals who used semaglutide, 222 hospitalizations occurred. This rate was lower than those who took older GLP-1 drugs liraglutide and dulaglutide, as well as those who took medications for alcohol use disorder.
Still, the researchers added in their conclusion that “randomized clinical trials are needed to verify these initial findings.”
What’s the link between Ozempic and alcohol?
It’s not entirely clear at this point, but there are some theories.
Semaglutide is linked with a reduction in a slew of risky behaviors, including binge eating and tobacco use, points out Tyler J. Varisco, PharmD, PhD, an assistant professor in the Department of Pharmaceutical Health Outcomes of Policy and assistant director for Research Development in the Prescription Drug Misuse Education and Research Center at the University of Houston College of Pharmacy.
This is likely because there’s lot of overlap in the mechanisms that drive us to eat and the ones that drive us to take drugs, which both involve the brain’s motivation and reward systems. But “semaglutide changes the way that reward signals are received and processed by the brain,” Varisco says.
“People taking medications like Ozempic report feeling fewer cravings for alcohol, tobacco, or other drugs,” he adds. So people on Ozempic may end up drinking less—therefore lowering their risks of having too much alcohol.
Can Ozempic help with sobriety?
It’s hard to say. A growing body of research suggests that Ozempic may be helpful, but the data isn’t there yet. In this case, the study merely found that people on semaglutide had a lower risk of being hospitalized related to alcohol, but didn’t prove that it helped people stay sober. In fact, the study found that semaglutide users still had a 64 percent chance of being hospitalized due to alcohol.
As of now, Ozempic is technically only approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to help with blood sugar management in people with diabetes. But that could change in the future.
Korin Miller is a freelance writer specializing in general wellness, sexual health and relationships, and lifestyle trends, with work appearing in Men’s Health, Women’s Health, Self, Glamour, and more. She has a master’s degree from American University, lives by the beach, and hopes to own a teacup pig and taco truck one day.
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