Topline
Ozempic may lower the risk of opioid overdose in patients with Type 2 diabetes, a new study suggests, the latest research to find a positive connection between the diabetes drug and another unrelated condition.
An Ozempic medication box.
Key Facts
Some 3,000 participants with Type 2 diabetes and opioid use disorder were prescribed semaglutide and another 29,972 were prescribed other diabetic medications between December 2017 and December 2023, according to the study published Wednesday in JAMA Network Open.
Manufactured by drugmaker Novo Nordisk, semaglutide is the active ingredient in the diabetes drugs Ozempic and Rybelsus, and the weight loss drug Wegovy.
Semaglutide was associated with around a 60% decrease in opioid overdoses: There were 48 cases of opioid overdose in the group taking semaglutide, while there were 72 reports of overdose in the other participants.
Although there are a few Food and Drug Administration approved drugs that treat opioid use disorder, only about 25% of patients are prescribed them, and about half discontinue treatment after six months, so the researchers said there’s an “urgency for alternative treatments.”
Why Does Semaglutide Help With Addiction?
The JAMA researchers don’t know the connection between semaglutide and opioid use disorder, and believe further research is needed in order to understand it. Semaglutide was also found to help curb alcoholism. Patients taking the drug with alcohol use disorder reported less urges to drink. Semaglutide is a part of a class of drugs called glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonists, and they’re used to treat diabetes and weight loss by interacting with the hunger part of the brain to suppress the appetite, and lowering blood sugar and A1C. The drugs also replicate the effects of the GLP-1 hormone, which is a part of the reward pathways in the brain that drive people to participate in pleasurable activities like eating food. That explains why the drugs help people lose weight, but researchers believe that might also explain the drugs’ effect on people with drug and alcohol use disorders, according to Science Adviser. “Parts of the brain that drive eating behaviors overlap extensively with the drive to use alcohol or other substances,” Dr. Lorenzo Leggio and Dr. Leandro Vendruscolo, chief scientists with the National Institute on Alcohol Use and Alcoholism, and the National Institute on Drug Abuse, said.
Big Number
107,543. That’s how many drug overdose deaths there were in the U.S. in 2023, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Opioid-related overdoses made up over 81,000 of those deaths.
Key Background
GLP-1s have also been found to potentially treat other diseases and disorders. After trials showed its drugs were successful at treating cardiovascular issues, Novo Nordisk successfully gained approval from the Food and Drug Administration in March to add cardiovascular benefits to Wegovy’s label. Eli Lilly—the maker of Zepbound and Mounjaro—said in May it was looking to add sleep apnea treatment to Zepbound’s label after a previous study found it improved sleep apnea symptoms. Other studies found the drugs can potentially treat brain and mood disorders like Alzheimers, Parkinson’s, depression, anxiety, suicide and bipolar disorder. Researchers also discovered GLP-1s may treat kidney disease, cancer, sleep apnea, high blood pressure and fatty liver disease.
Further Reading
How Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro, Zepbound May Help Treat Other Diseases: Here’s What To Know (Forbes)
Increasing Evidence Suggests Ozempic (Semaglutide) Helps Curb Alcoholism (Forbes)
