The drugs of the family of the GLP-1 hormone (peptide similar to type 1 glucagon) as Ozempic or Zepbound have meant a revolution in the world pharmaceutical market. The success of these medications aimed at the treatment of diabetes has to do with its slimming effect but the ramifications of this phenomenon go further.
New tests. One of these ramifications has to do with alcohol consumption: a new study He has found evidence That the semaglutida, the active compound used by drugs such as Ozempic or Wegovy, can also help in the treatment of alcohol addiction.
Chronicle of a social phenomenon. Ozempic began to gain popularity about two years ago when it began to be used not to keep glycemic levels under control in people with type II diabetes, but as a treatment to lose weight both in people with diabetes and in those who only wanted to lose weight. In parallel, several clinical trials endorsed this effect and the regulatory organisms approved the use of the drug for this second use.
This success led to the appearance of other side effects associated with this compound, some of them positive. It was then that some laboratories got to work to test these effects. Among them An apparent reduction in alcohol consumption among those who were under this treatment.
How does it work? The GLP-1 hormone performs several functions in our body, one of them being indicating that we have satiated our appetite. That is why the drugs that function as their analogues in our body generate the same feeling of satiety, which in turn implies that we will eat less and therefore lose weight.
But soon some users began to realize that this not only affected food, but also the alcohol they consumed. Although the mechanism is not entirely clear, it is possible to intuit that it is the same mechanisms that enter into operation.
There is another factor to take into account, and among the Side effects From ozempic drugs we can find stomach symptoms such as nausea and vomiting. This can also lead to alcoholic beverages less appealing, as well as other foods.
48 participants. The study was conducted through a randomized rehearsal with placebo. That is to say, It was distributed randomly to the 48 participants in two groups: one was treated with semaglutida and another with a placebo. They contrasted that the effects of treatment were greater than those of a simple placebo, that is, the participants drank less alcohol. While the number of days in which the participants drank these were not reduced in less volume.
“These data suggest the potential of the semaglutida and drugs similar to covering an existing need for treatment for alcohol use disorder,” explained in a press release Klara Klein, member of the study responsible for the study. “Broader studies (…) are necessary to fully understand security and efficacy in people with (this) disorder, but these initial results are promising.”
The team presented the details of the essay In an article In the magazine Jama Psychiatry.
The analyzes continue. The reduced sample size in this study suggests that there is still a lot of work to be done. If we want to better understand Ozempic’s potential to fight addictions and similar disorders will need experiments with greater samples and studies that allow us to better understand the underlying biological mechanisms, as well as the potential risks of this use.
All this while other teams investigate other potential risks and benefits of this drug family. An example of the potential benefits still to explore is In cardiac healthcontext in which we have begun to see some potential benefits but that, as in the case of excessive alcohol consumption, we must still explore more thoroughly.
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