‘Miracle’ weight loss jabs could help slash alcohol cravings and curb heavy drinking, new research has suggested.
Semaglutide — the powerful ingredient behind Wegovy and Ozempic — has long been hailed a monumental breakthrough in the war on obesity.
Now, according to US scientists, the injections could cut the amount people drank by almost half.
Researchers couldn’t be sure why the medicines, collectively known as GLP-1 agonists, may help in this way.
However, experts who described the findings as ‘promising’ emphasized the necessity of further research before considering the injections as a new approach to addiction treatment.
The revelation comes shortly after statistics exposed a concerning surge in alcohol-related deaths, reaching a new peak in Britain with nearly 10,500 fatalities linked to alcohol consumption in 2023.
It marked the fourth consecutive year alcohol-related deaths have increased.
Dr. Klara Klein, an assistant professor of medicine at the University of North Carolina and the lead author of the study, stated, ‘These findings indicate the potential of semaglutide and comparable medications to address an existing gap in the treatment of alcohol use disorder.’
Semaglutide — the powerful ingredient behind Wegovy and Ozempic — has long been hailed a monumental breakthrough in the war on obesity
Now, according to US scientists, the injections could cut the amount people drank by almost half
‘Larger and longer studies in broader populations are needed to fully understand the safety and efficacy in people with alcohol use disorder, but these initial findings are promising.’
In the study, researchers tracked 48 adults with an average age of 40.
All had been diagnosed with alcohol use disorder — drinking in a way that is harmful — but were not actively seeking treatment.
One week before taking the injections, all volunteers were asked to drink their preferred alcoholic beverages over a two-hour period in a comfortable lab setting.
Researchers calculated how much alcohol people had drunk and their breath alcohol concentration.
They were then randomly assigned to receive weekly, low-dose injections of semaglutide or a placebo for nine weeks, during which time their weekly drinking patterns were also measured.
Their semaglutide dose was set to 0.25mg per week for the first four weeks, before it was raised to 0.5mg for four weeks and 1mg in the final week.
At the end of the nine-week trial, all participants undertook the same drinking task again, with their alcohol consumption and breath alcohol concentration recorded.
The researchers found those on the jabs saw a 41 per cent reduction in the number of drinks they consumed on each of their drinking days.
Nearly 40 per cent of people in the semaglutide group also reported no heavy drinking days in the last month of treatment, compared to 20 per cent in the placebo group.
Writing in the journal JAMA Psychiatry, the scientists also said that among the small group who also smoked cigarettes, those treated with semaglutide smoked less than those in the placebo group.
Despite semaglutide only being administered at the lowest clinical dose, its effects were bigger than is often seen with existing drugs to curb alcoholism, they added.
‘Considering greater effects of semaglutide on other medical outcomes — eg. weight loss — with increasing dose and treatment duration, higher doses would presumably yield greater effects on alcohol reduction,’ they said.
However, they noted the study had ‘several limitations’, including only involving volunteers whose alcohol consumption levels were ‘below those’ who often seek treatment.
Professor Sir Ian Gilmore, chairman of the Alcohol Health Alliance UK, who wasn’t involved in the study, said: ‘We welcome any new research developments to help people with alcohol use disorders.
‘While the evidence on the efficacy of these new drugs remains limited, we do have decades of robust research showing how to help people with alcohol problems and prevent alcohol harm more broadly by tackling the affordability, availability and marketing of alcohol.
‘We continue to urge the Government to fulfil their promise to focus on prevention, which will always be better, and cheaper, than a cure.
‘Further research on the drug’s mechanism of action might also help to grow our understanding of the cause of alcohol dependence, which blights the lives of so many people, their families and their communities.’
It comes as figures released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) last week, showed there were 10,473 deaths from alcohol-specific causes in the UK in 2023.
This is 4 per cent higher than 2022’s figure and a 38 per cent rise compared to 2019, the last pre-pandemic figures.
Semaglutide has been available on the NHS since 2019, and in the US since 2017, for type 2 diabetics to manage blood sugar levels.
Another semaglutide drug was also approved in Britain for weight loss in 2022, and in the US in 2021, under the brand Wegovy.
Like any medication, semaglutide can cause side effects that vary in both frequency and severity. Reported problems include nausea, constipation, diarrhoea, fatigue, stomach pain, headaches and dizziness.
Bizarre symptoms, such as hair loss, have also been reported among some patients.
But the study also adds to a growing body of evidence that the drug may have benefits beyond weight loss or controlling diabetes.
Previous studies have suggested it cuts the risk of heart attack and stroke in overweight adults, and also plays a role in improving heart failure symptoms.
