Is Ozempic useful for quitting smoking?

There may be a link between the use of Ozempic (semaglutide) and lower treatment rates for tobacco addiction in people with type 2 diabetes.

Recent research has linked semaglutide use to lower tobacco and alcohol use. People taking semaglutide contacted their doctors less often to quit smoking or for medication than people taking other diabetes medications such as insulin and metformin. This could suggest that they smoke less but also that they are less willing to seek help to quit smoking. Unfortunately, the study did not ask about the severity of tobacco use, such as the number of cigarettes smoked per day.

Previous research has suggested that semaglutide and other GLP-1 drugs can act on the brain’s reward system and thus reduce the need for food, nicotine, alcohol or other drugs.

Doctors are very hopeful that semaglutide could indeed become a new drug to facilitate smoking cessation. However, much more research is needed before semaglutide and other similar drugs can be used to quit smoking.

Source: https://www.acpjournals.org/doi/10.7326/M23-2718

Author: Prof. Dr. Dirk Devroey - Latest update: 2024-08-03 - Copyright: Clinifacts 2024