Feb. 13, 2025 – For years, some people taking the drug semaglutide to treat diabetes or obesity have reported not only eating less, but drinking less alcohol.
The reports have prompted many to hope that GLP-1 medicines like Ozempic will add addiction treatment to their growing list of benefits.
Now, a controlled clinical trial shows that people who were considered by medical researchers to report signs of alcohol use disorder drank significantly less after taking semaglutide for two months, compared to people with similar alcohol habits who didn’t take the drug.
In a controlled experiment where people spent two hours in a monitored setting with access to alcohol, those who took semaglutide drank the equivalent of nearly two drinks less than those who had been taking a weekly injection of just a placebo. They were invited to drink their preferred alcoholic beverages and told to delay drinking if they wished.
