The blockbuster GLP-1 drugs that have reshaped the treatment of diabetes and obesity may help prevent multiple substance use disorders — and reduce the tragic outcomes they cause, a large new study finds.An analysis published Wednesday in a medical journal looked at electronic health records from more than 600,000 U.S. Veterans Affairs patients with diabetes. It found that those treated with medications such as Ozempic and Mounjaro were less likely to develop addictions to alcohol, nicotine, cocaine, opioids and other substances than those treated with a different class of drugs.In those already addicted, the GLP-1 drugs were linked to lower risks of hospitalization, overdose and death, according to the study.AdvertisementAdvertisementThe new results suggest — but don’t prove — that the weight-loss medications may be able to target the underlying source of cravings that affect the more than 48 million Americans with substance use disorders.“They’re actually working against the root cause of all these different addictions,” said Dr. Ziyad Al-Aly, the study’s lead author and a chief researcher at the VA St. Louis Health Care System.Here’s what you need to know about the new research published by The BMJ:How the study was designedPrevious studies have suggested that the drugs known as GLP-1s, or glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists, could reduce addictions by targeting the brain’s reward pathways. But those studies have been small and often limited to one substance.AdvertisementAdvertisementFor this study, one of the largest to date, Al-Aly and his colleagues analyzed data from the electronic records of more than 600,000 Veterans Affairs patients with diabetes over three years. They compared people who received GLP-1 drugs with those treated with medications that lower blood sugar.The patients were divided into seven parallel trials that analyzed the risk of developing addictions to multiple substances including alcohol, cannabis, cocaine, nicotine and opioids. Another trial looked at the risk of specific harms among people with existing addictions when they took the different types of medication.What the researchers foundAl-Aly and his colleagues found that people starting the GLP-1 drugs had lower risks of developing addiction to multiple substances. Compared with the other medications, people taking the GLP-1 drugs had a reduced risk for addiction: 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 …
