Diabetes drugs unexpectedly reduced addiction risk in hundreds of thousands of veterans
A large-scale analysis of data from more than 600,000 U.S. military veterans with type 2 diabetes found an unexpected association. Researchers from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis found that patients who received drugs from the GLP‑1 class were significantly less likely to experience overdoses, emergency hospitalizations, and other substance-related harms.
Addiction to alcohol and drugs remains one of the most pressing challenges in U.S. healthcare. Each year, more than 100,000 U.S. residents die from the consequences of drug or alcohol addiction, and the damage addiction inflicts on families and entire communities goes far beyond these numbers.
Which drugs were in the spotlight
The GLP‑1 class (glucagon-like peptide‑1 receptor agonists) includes the widely known Ozempic, Wegovy, and Mounjaro. Originally, they were developed to treat type 2 diabetes and reduce body weight, but the results of the new study suggest a much broader potential for this group of drugs.
What sparked the scientific interest
The researchers’ interest in the topic didn’t come out of nowhere. For several years, doctors had been recording patient reports that while on treatment with GLP‑1 drugs, their smoking and alcohol use unexpectedly decreased—or stopped altogether. The study leader, Ziyad Al-Aly, who also heads the research and development division of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) healthcare system in St. Louis, wondered whether these drugs could help with addictions for which there is currently no approved pharmacotherapy—for example, methamphetamine use disorder.
To test the hypothesis, the team analyzed the medical records of a cohort of veterans, comparing those who received GLP‑1 drugs with those who did not. They tracked overdoses, emergency department visits, hospitalizations, and suicide attempts.
Numbers that are hard to ignore
The results showed a reduced risk of developing substance use disorders without any additional targeted interventions:
• alcohol: −18%
• cannabis: −14%
• cocaine: −20%
• nicotine: −20%
• opioids: −25%
Veterans on GLP‑1 therapy also had fewer overdoses, fewer emergency department visits, fewer hospitalizations, and fewer suicide attempts.
Not the substance, but the craving itself
The proposed mechanism appears fundamentally different from most existing treatments. “In addiction medicine, many drugs target a single thing: a nicotine patch can help with smoking, but not with alcohol. A drug that works across all addictive substances simply didn’t exist,” Ziyad Al-Aly explained. According to him, GLP‑1 drugs likely act not on a specific substance, but on the craving itself, dampening the craving that drives a person toward the object of addiction.
The scientist described this effect as suppressing “drug noise,” drawing an analogy with the concept of “food noise” already familiar to patients. If the hypothesis is correct, it points to a shared biological basis for addiction and to an approach aimed not at a specific substance, but at the general mechanism of craving.
The limits of what we know today
It is important to keep in mind that the study is observational. It shows an association, not causation. GLP‑1 drugs are currently not approved by any regulator for treating addiction, and the findings are not medical advice.
What the manufacturer says
Novo Nordisk, which markets semaglutide under the brand names Ozempic, Rybelsus, and Wegovy, said it is not conducting dedicated clinical studies of its drugs in patients with substance use disorders. A company representative confirmed that GLP‑1 receptor agonists do affect brain regions involved in appetite and satiety that overlap with the reward system. However, the available data, including a subanalysis of the STEP 5 clinical trial on controlling food cravings and a number of preclinical animal studies, have not provided convincing evidence of effectiveness for addiction. Novo Nordisk emphasizes that this is not an approved indication and does not recommend using semaglutide to treat addictive disorders.
The study results look promising and open up a new direction for discussion about the biology of addiction. However, the road from observational findings to clinical practice is long: to confirm effectiveness and safety, dedicated randomized controlled trials and regulatory review will be required.
This material was prepared with support from www.icefishing-game.com