A large new study of Veterans Affairs patients finds that GLP-1 medications used to treat diabetes and obesity may help prevent multiple substance use disorders and reduce their associated harms. An analysis of electronic health records from more than 600,000 Veterans Affairs patients with diabetes compared those treated with medications such as Ozempic and Mounjaro to those treated with other blood sugar-lowering drugs over three years.
Researchers found that people starting GLP-1 drugs had lower risks of developing addiction across multiple substances. Compared with other medications, GLP-1 users showed reduced addiction risk of 18% for alcohol, 14% for cannabis, 20% for both cocaine and nicotine, and 25% for opioids. In patients who already had substance use disorders, starting GLP-1 drugs was linked with a 31% lower risk of emergency department visits, 26% lower risk of hospitalizations, 39% lower risk of overdose, and 50% lower risk of death.
Study Findings and Limitations
According to the study’s lead author Dr. Ziyad Al-Aly, the research suggested that “they’re actually working against the root cause of all these different addictions.” The analysis found that using GLP-1 drugs likely prevented about seven cases of substance use disorder and 12 incidents involving serious harm per 1,000 users over three years. However, the study had notable limitations: it was conducted within the VA system serving a population that is mostly older, white and male, included data only from people with diabetes, and couldn’t account for factors like socioeconomic status. Dr. Anna Lembke from Stanford noted the significance of the findings: “We haven’t really had a new tool in our toolbox from a pharmacotherapy perspective to treat addiction in a long time.” Researchers emphasized that randomized controlled clinical trials would be needed before prescribing GLP-1 drugs specifically to treat substance use disorders.
This article is an AI-assisted summary. All facts and figures are drawn from the original report: https://us.headtopics.com/news/can-ozempic-mounjaro-and-other-glp-1-drugs-fight-80570167