Posted on 06/11/2023 1:10:40 PM PDT by ConservativeMind
The medication semaglutide, which is currently used in the treatment of type 2 diabetes and obesity, might also be an effective medication for alcohol dependence. In a study, the drug reduced alcohol relapse drinking and alcohol intake in rats by more than half.
Semaglutide is sold under brand names such as Ozempic. There is anecdotal evidence of patients with obesity or diabetes saying that their craving for alcohol has lessened since they started taking the drug.
Today, individuals with alcohol dependence are treated with a combination of various psychosocial methods and medications. Four approved medications are available.
Semaglutide is a long-acting substance that patients only need to take once a week. This is the first medication to act on the GLP-1 receptor that can be taken in tablet form.
In the study, alcohol-dependent rats were treated with semaglutide, which significantly reduced their alcohol consumption and even reduced the drinking of alcohol in conjunction with relapses. Relapses comprise a major problem for individuals with alcohol dependence, as an individual who has abstained from alcohol for a period relapses and drinks more than before the withdrawal.
"There are differences in conducting studies on animals and humans. However, in this case, there is a previous study on humans in which an older version of the diabetes medications that act on GLP-1 was found to reduce alcohol intake in overweight individuals with alcohol dependence," says Elisabet Jerlhag.
The study also examined why the medication reduces alcohol drinking. The results indicate that reduced alcohol-induced reward could be a contributing factor. In the study, semaglutide affected the brain's reward system in mice, to be more exact the nucleus accumbens area of the brain, which is part of the limbic system.
(Excerpt) Read more at medicalxpress.com ...
Diet and exercise are pretty cheap compared to destroying your body by drinking ethanol and taking pills.
After 50 years of drinking, I stopped. I haven't had any alcohol for well over a year. Sometimes I miss it, but not enough to start drinking again.
Getting a job usually cuts it in half as well.
They are injecting, but for weight loss. There are tons of people being put on it like chewing gum.
The mice don’t have free will to grab a drink whenever they want.
I don't think it's a good weight loss drug, though. But it may be a miracle drug as far as broad-based addiction.
In the last couple of weeks its been an off label weight loss drug and now it stops diabetics from drinking so much.
Geez, is there anything Ozempic can’t do?
Oh, right, cost less than $800 a month.
“The mice don’t have free will to grab a drink whenever they want.”
They did.
Only tested on rats? No Republicans? /s
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