Can semaglutide help stop alcohol cravings?
Randomised controlled trial: Subjects are randomly assigned to a test group, which receives the treatment, or a control group, which commonly receives a placebo. In 'blind' trials, participants do not know which group they are in; in ‘double blind’ trials, the experimenters do not know either. Blinding trials helps removes bias.
People: This is a study based on research using people.
The glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) receptor agonist semaglutide - commonly sold as Ozempic and Wegovy - could help people with alcohol use disorder cut the cravings and reduce their drinking, say North American researchers. The team provided close to 50 participants with alcohol use disorder with low doses of semaglutide once a week or a placebo and found that, over nine weeks of treatment, semaglutide led to reductions in some but not all measures of weekly alcohol consumption, but significantly decreased their weekly alcohol cravings, compared to the placebo. Additionally, they found the medication to have a bonus effect of reducing people's cigarette consumption for those in the group who smoked.
Journal/conference: JAMA Psychiatry
Research: Paper
Organisation/s: University of Southern California, USA
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