Initially developed to manage diabetes, Ozempic has been prescribed lately by medical doctors for weight reduction .. and it’s precipitated it’s fair proportion of controversy. However do you know that not too long ago Ozempic has been utilized in trials to deal with one other frequent and regarding situation – and the outcomes have been nothing wanting spectacular!
Ozempic as a therapy for dependancy
Ozempic works by stimulating the manufacturing of insulin to maintain blood sugar ranges in verify. It additionally reduces urge for food and yearning for meals, which is why it’s now used for weight reduction. Nevertheless, Ozempic may cut back the need to drink, smoke or take different medication, with many Ozempic customers reporting they not crave alcohol or different medication whereas taking the remedy.
And it’s all all the way down to Ozempic’s energetic ingredient, Semaglutide, which works on glucagon-like peptide-1 receptors, often known as a “GLP-1 agonist”.
Ozempic lower in cravings for alcohol and meals
US girl Megan Johnston instructed CBS Information that since beginning the drug for weight reduction seven months in the past, not solely has she misplaced 45 lbs (20.4 kg), she has gone from round 15 normal drinks per week to a mean of three normal drinks per week.
Like many, Megan admits that she gained extra weight and began ingesting extra for the reason that pandemic. That is one thing that has impacted numerous folks with 1 in 4 admitting to ingesting extra now than earlier than the pandemic.
The rise in alcohol consumption continues to be a serious downside. In response to HealthDirect, 1 in 4 Australians drink alcohol at dangerous ranges and 1 in 20 Australians has an dependancy or substance abuse downside.
Looking forward to Ozempic as an dependancy therapy
Kyle Simmons, the director of Oklahoma State College’s Biomedical Imaging Middle could be very hopeful about Ozempic getting used to deal with dependancy.
“If it seems that this remedy is protected and efficient for treating dependancy, simply by dint of how many individuals are already taking these drugs for different functions, this may turn out to be actually the biggest and most generally used pharmacotherapy for dependancy medication that’s ever been developed.”
There are already drugs obtainable to deal with alcohol dependancy which embody acamprosate (Cambral), naltrexone and disultiram (Antabuse) however they’re ‘”not often prescribed” in accordance with the NIH.
Ozempic dependancy therapy research underway
With Semaglutide taking away the rewarding worth of medicine, on prime of the prevailing scientific trials underway, there have additionally been research in animals to find out if this may be an possibility for dependancy therapy too.
To date in animal research, each rodents and monkeys responded very positively to Semaglutide as a therapy for dependancy.
Human trials, nevertheless, haven’t been fairly as clear.
In a single research of 127 folks, each these taking a GLP-1 agonist and people taking the placebo drug decreased their ingesting for the brief time period.
There was no distinction between the GLP-1 agonist and the placebo.
The research additionally concluded that the therapy could also be depending on weight. Clinicians discovered there was a discount in ingesting for individuals who had each alcohol use issues and weight problems, however not in those that began at a traditional weight of BMI lower than 30.
One other research discovered that the GLP-1 agonist dulaglutide didn’t assist to scale back smoking nevertheless it did assist cut back alcohol consumption. Over 90 per cent of individuals on this research additionally had weight problems.
There have additionally been smaller research taking a look at GLP-1 agonists as a therapy for cocaine and opioid dependancy with blended outcomes.
Whereas the drug impacts the mind and seems to take away the pleasure acquired from ingesting alcohol, Kyle Simmons admits there must be much more analysis.
“We simply don’t know but whether or not or not the remedy is protected and efficient for the therapy of alcohol use dysfunction.”
Ozempic comes with a large danger of unwanted effects.
Along with taking away meals and doubtlessly alcohol cravings, it could possibly additionally trigger nausea, abdomen ache, constipation, diarrhea and vomiting.
Rarer however extra severe unwanted effects of Ozempic might embody thyroid tumours, pancreatitis, modifications in imaginative and prescient, hypoglycemia, gallbladder points, kidney failure and most cancers.
It’s additionally unclear how these medication would possibly have an effect on folks after long-term use.
