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Growing evidence shows that. using Semaglutide can cause Material consumption is reduced, and a major new study shows a promising link between the drug and tobacco use. But experts stress that more research is needed before using the drug to quit smoking.
as if Research In a study published Monday in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine, researchers tracked the medical records of more than 200,000 people who started medications to treat type 2 diabetes; Of these, about 6,000 use semaglutide drugs such as Ozympic.
Within a year, people who started using semaglutide were significantly less likely than those who started other diabetes medications, such as insulin and metformin, to have a medical encounter with a tobacco use disorder, a prescription for cigarettes, or counseling to stop smoking.
The study authors noted that the reasons why individuals may be less likely to seek treatment for a tobacco use disorder vary widely. It may indicate that they want to reduce their tobacco use or, for example, are reluctant to seek help to quit smoking.
Dr. Disha Narang, MD, an endocrinologist and director of obesity medicine at Endeavor Health in Chicago, who was not involved in the new study, says it's likely a mix of drug-driven and patient-driven changes.
“If one of these agents has a patient with type 2 diabetes and they have a history of smoking, oftentimes, our visit includes a discussion about tobacco cessation,” she says. “Since these people are being treated for diabetes, they can start paying special attention to their long-term health and changing some habits.”
Also, the new study did not measure the severity of tobacco use, the number of cigarettes smoked per day, craving or cessation.
Understanding how semaglutide affects these factors is “crucial” to determining whether the drugs can be used for smoking cessation, said Dr. Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse and co-author of the new report. She also said more work is needed to understand the proper dosage and side effects of blockbuster drugs before they can be used in new ways.
But other early research suggests that semaglutide and other GLP-1 drugs may interact with the brain's reward system to help modulate cravings for food, nicotine, alcohol, or other drugs.
A major driver of why most of us overeat has to do with the positive reactions we get from eating certain foods. And it's the same circuit for food as medicine,” Volkow said.
Although key questions remain, Volkow is surprised by how consistent the findings are regarding the relationship between semaglutide use and substance use — across different substances and different patient groups. The new study found similar associations between those with and without obesity.
“Such a signal cannot be ignored, especially given how important it would be if we could find a new drug to treat smoking cessation now,” she said. “This can have a significant impact on health.”
Smoking rates in the United States are declining over time, but smoking is the leading cause of preventable disease and death, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. A A recent study According to data from the American Cancer Society, smoking contributes to nearly 1 in 5 new cancers and nearly one-third of cancer deaths each year.
But fewer than 10 adult smokers succeed in quitting each year, new research suggests, and smoking cessation treatment options haven't changed much in decades.