According to an anecdote report, people who take weight loss drugs such as Ozempic and WEGOVY say that it is easier to refuse extra drinks at night. But does research match this story? Do these weight loss drugs reduce alcohol consumption?
More studies are required, but GLP-1 receptor agents, a class of drugs including Semaglutide (brand names Ozempic and Wegovy) and Liraglutide (Saxenda), appear to reduce alcohol consumption, and researchers hope that these drugs will help to solve the problem. there is.
This study is still in the early stages, and scientists still do not understand how these drugs can work in the brain to reduce alcohol consumption. However, more than 12 clinical trials are underway to answer these questions.
“This is actually a fast -moving field in the last few years and will move faster in the next two years,” he said. Christian Hendershot, Clinical research director of the Southern California University Addiction Science Research Institute.
How does alcohol use change the brain
Alcohol is addictive and contributed to Each year, 2.6 million people died worldwide.Partially by increasing the incidence of heart disease and cancer.
“I think there is no safe amount of alcohol.” Dr. Maurice O’farrellThe obesity researcher and founder of the drug weight loss clinic in Dublin told Live Science. “If you drink regularly, it is like smoking cigarettes regularly.”
And many people develop alcohol disorders (AUDs), a medical state defined as drinking despite negative results.
When this happens, the influence of alcohol, such as the feeling of pleasure or the paralysis of bad emotions, promotes the brain and releases chemical dopamine to the nucleus accumens, a brain reward center. This strengthens the motivation for drinking alcohol. Over time, the decision changes from conscious choices treated by frontal lobe to the habits dominated by basal ganglion. According to the National Research Institute on alcohol abuse and alcoholism.
“If you super -feed, which is part of the brain that pursues satisfaction immediately,” if it is so strong that it is so strong that it is essentially enslaving your frontal cortex, “O’farell said O’farell, O’farell, controlles high -difference cognitive functions such as planning, decision -making and self -control.
The GLP-1 receptor agent acts in the brain and mimics the hormonal GLP-1 (glucagon-similar peptide-1), which promotes filling after meals. Therefore, it is plausible that these drugs affect the brain in a way that can affect alcohol consumption, experts told Live Science.
Body weight loss drugs show promise
But only a few human exams have investigated the influence of these drugs on the use of alcohol. For example, a study published in the 32nd European Parliament on Spain’s obesity in Spain found that Semaglutide reduced the weekly drinks of 179 people with overweight or obese or obesity or 179 people who had five beers a week. According to regular drinkers, drinking has fallen to about eight units per week. This has decreased by more than 65%.
However, this study is randomly allocated to take placebo or weight loss drugs, so the participants can drink less due to factors other than weight loss drugs. In addition, this study may not be reliable in relying on people’s estimates about people’s drinking, so a more strict test is required.
In another study published in the journal earlier this year Jamagi psychiatricThe researchers reported the results of a randomized placebo control test, which can do better to the researchers to see how much weight loss drugs are drinking. In the exam, 48 adults with untreated AUD were evaluated in the laboratory environment every week after receiving the semagluide injection.
In the laboratory test, those who take Semagluide said they drank less alcohol and felt less craving than those who had been placebo. The drug did not reduce how often people drank, but each time they sat down, the amount of drinking was reduced.
“It’s interesting to see this reduction in people who don’t try to reduce drinking.”
How does it work?
Henderson says that the study of human subjects is still limited, but there is a fairly extensive history of animal research that shows that GLP-1 receptor agents can reduce alcohol intake. ”
2023 study on rodents published in the journal ebiomedicine Semaglutide found that it blocks alcohol-induced dopamine release from the brain. This can mean that the drug acts by preventing alcohol from overwhelming the protective system, and therefore that it weakens the brain’s reward after drinking alcohol. And in fact, the animals drank less alcohol when they gave three gluthes. Alcohol also affects inhibitory brain cells that help control impulse control. GLP-1 drugs can help to fight some of these effects, according to a 2023 study on rats published in the journal. JCI insight.
But humans are much more complicated than rodents. And scientists are learning more about the basic action mechanisms of GLP-1 drugs, but it can pass for researchers to fully understand how these drugs work. Dr. Michael WeaverPsychiatrist professor and medical manager of the Neurological Action Research Center on the addiction of UTHELTH HOUSTON told Live Science.
O’farrell is a privilege of welcoming if alcohol cravings are reduced if they are prescribed under approved conditions such as diabetes, obesity or heart disease.
Weaver mentions drugs such as NALTREXONE, Acamprosate, and Disulfiram, saying, “We have a drug that is known to be available and effective.” Help can be easily obtained. You don’t have to wait for the miracle drug. “
This article is used only for the purpose of providing information and is not intended to provide medical advice..
