United States: Currently, semaglutide (Ozempic, Wegovy) might decrease alcohol intake in patients with AUD and decrease their risk for hospitalization. Some scientists believe that this medicine alters the neural circuits, which is involved with eating and drinking behaviors, as reported by HealthDay.
Swedish Research Including 228,000 people shows the positive effects
Meta-research by Finnish researchers from clinical-register records of SWEDCON, for nearly nine years identified 228k Swedes with AUD to ‘semaglutide use significantly reduced the hospitalization risk for alcohol related problems by 36%’. Another member of the GLP-1 group, Liraglutide (Victoza) reduced hospitalizations by 28 percent. The findings were reported to JAMA Psychiatry on November 13.
A positive trend.
Although no causal relationship is demonstrable in the study, the results provide some evidence for the notion that GLP-1 drugs could contribute to helping people with AUD avoid hospitalizations. The researchers stress the importance of the following clinical trials to support these positive effects.
New analysis ties semaglutide to reduced risk of suicide
On the same note, the study also found out that patients on semaglutide had a reduced risk of commiting suicide. Furthermore, GLP-1 drugs appeared to be safer and more preventative than conventional medications such as naltrexone, and disulfiram, although more research is warranted, as reported by HealthDay.
The Need for More Effective Alcohol Use Disorder Treatments
There is lack of effective pharmacotherapies for all the patients being treated for AUDs today, proving the need for new therapies. GLP-1 drugs can be viewed as having a novel approach to treating alcohol use disorder for a long time inpatient’s who have previously failed with the conventional drugs.