Healthy Returns: Weight loss, diabetes medications can reduce alcohol and opioid consumption

Still one other study shows that blockbuster GLP-1 drugs may provide health advantages beyond diabetes and weight reduction.

This time, further research shows that they’ll significantly curb addictive behavior.

Drugs similar to Novo NordiskThe wildly popular diabetes injection Ozempic can reduce drug and alcohol abuse by about half, in response to a study recent study published last week within the journal Addiction. This suggests that Ozempic and similar drugs may represent a brand new treatment for opioid and alcohol use disorders.

“This study not only contributes to the evolving landscape of substance use treatment, but also opens up possibilities for more comprehensive and effective treatment strategies for those affected,” said the study authors wrote.

Here's why this is very important.

More tools are needed to combat the continuing opioid epidemic within the United States declared a public health emergency in 2017. Estimated in 2021 2.5 million people According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, people age 18 and older within the U.S. suffered from opioid use disorder last 12 months, but only 22% received medication to treat it. Opioids are an element around 72% of overdose deaths within the United States, says the National Center for Drug Abuse Statistics.

According to a 2023 study, nearly 29 million people ages 12 and older suffered from an alcohol use disorder last 12 months national survey. Excessive alcohol consumption is the leading preventable reason behind death within the United States around 178,000 people According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, people die from it yearly.

Let’s dive into the brand new data.

Researchers at Loyola University Chicago examined the electronic health records of greater than 500,000 individuals with a history of opioid use disorder, 8,000 of whom were taking either GLP-1 or similar treatments called GIPs, similar to: Eli Lilly's weight reduction treatment Mounjaro. Mounjaro mimics GLP-1 and one other gut hormone called GIP to suppress appetite and regulate blood sugar, while Ozempic only targets GLP-1.

The study found that individuals who took GLP-1s or GIPs had a 40% lower rate of opioid overdoses than those that didn't. Similarly, an evaluation of greater than 5,000 individuals with a history of alcohol dependence who took these treatments found a 50% lower rate of intoxication than those that didn’t take them.

The results aren’t any surprise. This is consistent with other studies showing the potential of GLP-1 and GIP to scale back substance-dependent behaviors similar to alcohol and nicotine consumption. Other research has also shown promise in treating kidney failure, fatty liver disease, Alzheimer's disease and obstructive sleep apnea.

Novo Nordisk's weight-loss drug Wegovy also received US approval in March since it reduces the chance of great cardiovascular complications in adults with obesity and heart disease.

However, more research is probably going needed to substantiate the brand new study's findings. Researchers have called for more clinical trials through which patients with a substance use disorder are randomly assigned a GLP-1 or a placebo to substantiate the potential treatment advantages of medication like Ozempic, Wegovy and Mounjaro.

We'll proceed to observe what other research comes out on this area, so stay tuned to our coverage.

You can send suggestions, suggestions, story ideas and data to Annika at annikakim.constantino@nbcuni.com.

This is Ashley reporting live from Las Vegas.

I've spent the previous couple of days on the exhibit floor on the HLTH health technology conference. Companies like Microsoft, Nvidia, Amazon, Google and greater than 12,000 other industry leaders met there this 12 months.

This was my second time, and while there's a certain irony in walking through smoke-filled casinos to get to meetings in regards to the way forward for healthcare, it's a helpful solution to discover what technologies are exciting the industry.

As I predicted in my reporting on Sunday, generative AI dominated my discussions, very similar to it did last 12 months. However, the main target was less on the promise or potential of the technology and more on practical, near-term use cases for the technology. If you're still skeptical about whether healthcare systems are taking AI seriously, the reply is undoubtedly yes.

Vendors want AI tools that deliver real returns to their business, each when it comes to cost savings and efficiency. You aren’t prepared to attend a protracted time until the primary results turn into visible. Vendors are also on the lookout for guidance on find out how to effectively evaluate and implement the lots of of solutions which have just come to market. And investors are asking increasingly difficult questions on what a viable business model for a healthcare AI company actually looks like.

An enormous focus was on how AI could help reduce the mountains of documentation that doctors and nurses are chargeable for, which is a number one reason behind burnout within the industry. This has been a hot topic all 12 months, so it wasn't a surprise to me. Microsoft, Google, GE HealthCare and Amazon For example, all introduced recent tools to deal with the issue.

“Primary care has always been burdened with administrative tasks. This is ubiquitous in healthcare, but it is particularly acute in primary care,” said Dr. Andrew Diamond, chief medical officer at Amazon's primary care company One Medical, told CNBC. “AI promises enormous potential to automate or streamline much of this work.”

But while AI for administrative burnout was actually popular, other issues emerged as well. For example, there was loads of speak about AI agents that will help users answer questions, automate processes, and perform specific tasks. Several firms are also working on AI tools that will help discover and optimize relevant clinical trials for patients. Both Microsoft and GE HealthCare announced early-stage tools for these areas.

AI won't transform the industry overnight, but I've been told time and time again that innovation is moving quickly – especially by the standards of healthcare, which has a popularity for being slow to adopt recent technologies.

These firms try to tackle complex problems, but there was an actual optimism. Vendors, large incumbent tech firms, and startups all appear to agree that AI is here to remain, and so they clearly intend to make use of it.

Feel free to send suggestions, suggestions, story ideas and data to Ashley at ashley.caroot@nbcuni.com.