Diabetes medicines can help curb alcohol addiction

Study with 153 participants revealed that semaglutide and tirzepatide (originally for diabetes, but widely used for obesity) reduce alcohol cravings

Previously, studies have shown that semaglutide can help in the treatment of alcoholism. A new analysis published in Scientific Reports arrives to reinforce this idea that medicines for type 2 diabetes (such as semaglutide itself, but also tirzepatide) can reduce the desire for alcohol.

Scientists at the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute combined two different studies to determine whether the medications were effective in reducing alcohol consumption.

When examining discussions related to alcohol, researchers found that 962 individuals made 1,580 posts about it. Of these, 71.7% addressed negative effects due to alcohol consumption.

In a second study, 153 participants who self-reported obesity were recruited from various social media platforms. These were divided into three groups: the control group, the group taking semaglutide and the group taking tirzepatide.

Participants who took semaglutide or tirzepatide reported drinking significantly fewer drinks, on average, than those in the control group (who were not taking any diabetes or weight loss medications). The researchers found that both the average number of drinks and the odds of binge drinking were significantly lower.

Reduction of alcohol poisoning

The study also revealed that the stimulant and sedative effects of alcohol intoxication are reduced for patients taking semaglutide and tirzepatide. As the authors state, participants reported drinking less, experienced fewer effects from alcohol and reduced the chances of excessive alcohol consumption.

With these findings in mind, the authors highlight the need for more randomized controlled trials to explore the therapeutic potential of these medications for alcohol use disorder.

Recently, we saw that gene therapy could be the newest ally against alcoholism: the release of the neurotrophic factor protein showed the potential to prevent a return to excessive alcohol consumption.

Source: Scientific Reports

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