Ozempic is a drugs containing semaglutide, a glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist (GLP-1 RA), basically used to regard kind 2 diabetes by means of making improvements to blood sugar keep an eye on and selling weight reduction. It really works by means of stimulating insulin secretion, lowering urge for food, and slowing gastric emptying, performing at the mind’s urge for food law facilities.
New analysis displays that Ozempic and an identical medication cut back opioid overdoses by means of 40% and alcohol intoxication by means of 50% in folks with substance use problems. Those medicines, steadily prescribed for diabetes and weight problems, might lend a hand deal with habit by means of influencing mind present pathways.
A up to date find out about printed within the magazine Habit discovered that people with opioid use dysfunction (OUD) or alcohol use dysfunction (AUD) who’re handled with Ozempic or an identical medicines for diabetes or weight-related prerequisites enjoy a 40% relief in opioid overdose charges and a 50% relief in alcohol intoxication in comparison to the ones with OUD and AUD who aren’t on those medicines.
Ozempic is certainly one of a number of medicines, referred to as glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists or GLP-1 RAs, which might be prescribed to regard diabetes, weight problems, and different weight-related scientific prerequisites. The medicines engage with a area of the mind – the mesolimbic machine – to scale back urge for food and cause delight after consuming.
The mesolimbic machine overlaps with the mind processes that govern addictive behaviors. This overlap means that GLP-1 RAs and an identical medicines may additionally regulate the reward-response pathways related to substance use. ‘Equivalent medicines’ come with glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide (GIP) agonists just like the weight-loss medicine Mounjaro.
Prior Analysis and the Newest Findings
Till now, lots of the present analysis into the use of GLP-1 RAs and GIPs to regard substance use problems is composed of animal research and small-scale scientific trials.
This new large-scale human find out about checked out 503,747 folks with a historical past of opioid use dysfunction (OUD), of which 8,103 had a prescription for a GLP-1 RA or GIP. The find out about discovered that folks with OUD who had a GLP-1 RA or GIP prescription had a 40% decrease price of opioid overdose when compared with those that didn’t have a prescription.
The find out about additionally checked out 817,309 folks with a historical past of alcohol use dysfunction (AUD), of which 5,621 had a prescription for a GLP-1 RA or GIP. The find out about discovered that folks with AUD who had a GLP-1 RA or GIP prescription had a 50% decrease price of alcohol intoxication when compared with those that didn’t have a prescription.
This find out about might introduce a promising new remedy for substance use problems.
Reference: “The affiliation between glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide and/or glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist prescriptions and substance-related results in sufferers with opioid and alcohol use problems: An actual-world knowledge research” by means of Fares Qeadan, Ashlie McCunn and Benjamin Tingey, 16 October 2024, Habit.
DOI: 10.1111/upload.16679
