Patients of mine who are taking GLP1 receptor agonists for obesity and/or type 2 diabetes sometimes tell me that they no longer desire alcohol, and that they have decreased (or completely stopped) drinking. I have noticed this not only in people who have previously had just a few drinks per week, but amongst heavier consumers as well.
In a previous blog on this topic, I shared that we don’t have much data on this, other than a small trial of exenatide (Bydureon), which is an older GLP1. I also noted that there was a small study of semaglutide 1mg weekly (Ozempic) that was underway (note Ozempic is the brand name for semaglutide for diabetes; Wegovy is brand name for weight management). This study was just published, and here are the results!
The study, published in JAMA Psychiatry, enrolled 48 people age 21-65 with alcohol use disorder, and randomized them to receive semaglutide (titrated up to 1mg weekly) or placebo for just 9 weeks.
Just what is alcohol use disorder (AUD)? You can see the full list of criteria here. To fit the diagnosis requires meeting at least 2 criteria. These include things like drinking more than intended, craving alcohol, not being able cut down, or having social issues related to drinking.
People in this study had to be drinking at least 7 (women) or 14 (men) drinks per week, with at least 2 heavy drinking episodes (at least 4 drinks for women and 5 for men) in the past month.
The study found that semaglutide did not affect the number of drinks per calendar day, nor the number of drinking days, but it DID reduce the number of drinks on a drinking day, and also reduced alcohol craving. As an added bonus, there was a reduction in smoking (cigarettes/day) amongst smokers in the semaglutide group as well.
This study is small and short. It takes a full month to establish the full effect of any dose of semaglutide in the body. These people had only reached the 1mg dose for 1 week at the end of the study, so they hadn’t even experienced the full effect of that dose of semaglutide at the end of the trial. Ozempic can be increased up to 2mg weekly, and Wegovy up to 2.4mg weekly, so it would be interesting to see what benefit higher doses may bring. I’d also be very interested to see what other highly effective GLP1 based medications like tirzepatide (Mounjaro/Zepbound) would show – patients on this medication have also told me they are less interested in alcohol, which is wonderful.
BOTTOM LINE: This very small and short study suggests that semaglutide may have some beneficial effect to reduce alcohol consumption. Longer and larger trials are needed to look into this further!
Disclaimer: I am/have been an investigator in clinical trials of semaglutide and tirzepatide. I receive honoraria as a continuing medical education speaker and consultant from the makers of semaglutide (Novo Nordisk), tirzepatide (Eli Lilly). and exenatide (Astra Zeneca).
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