Popular weight-loss and diabetes medications show promise for curbing smoking, study suggests
CNN — A substantial new study reveals a promising association between semaglutide use and tobacco use, and a growing body of research indicates that taking the medicine may reduce substance use. However, doctors stress that before taking the drugs off-label to help people quit smoking, much more research is necessary.
The medical records of over 200,000 individuals who began using type 2 diabetes drugs were monitored in a study published on Monday in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine. Almost 6,000 of these individuals were taking semaglutide medications, such Ozempic.
Compared to those who started other diabetes medications like insulin and metformin, those who started using semaglutide had a significantly lower chance over the course of a year of medical encounters for tobacco use disorders, prescriptions for medications for quitting smoking, or counselling for quitting smoking.
The authors of the study point out that there are a variety of reasons why people could be less likely to seek medical attention for a tobacco use problem; for example, it could mean that they have cut back on their tobacco use or have lost interest in getting help to stop smoking.
Dr. Disha Narang, an endocrinologist and director of obesity medicine at Endeavour Health in Chicago who was not involved in the new research, speculated that there might be a combination of medication-driven and patient-driven change.
“Our visits often involve a conversation about tobacco cessation if I have a patient with type 2 diabetes who is on one of these agents and they do have a history of smoking,” the doctor stated. Because they are receiving treatment for diabetes, these people may begin to pay more attention to their long-term health and modify some of their habits.
Furthermore, the current study did not assess the intensity of tobacco use, including the daily cigarette count, urges, or withdrawal symptoms.
Dr. Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse and co-author of the new paper, stated that knowing how semaglutide impacts these parameters is “crucial” to deciding whether the medications could be used for quitting smoking. She added that further research would be required to comprehend the right dosage and side effects before utilising the popular medications in novel ways.
However, other preliminary data indicates that semaglutide and other GLP-1 medicines may affect desires for food, nicotine, alcohol, or other drugs by interacting with the brain’s reward system.
“The primary cause of the overeating habits of many of us is the positive reinforcement we receive from consuming particular foods. And the circuit for foods and medications is the same,” Volkow stated.
Volkow expressed her surprise at the findings’ consistency regarding the link between reduced substance use and semaglutide use – both across different substances and patient groups – even if important problems still need to be addressed. The current study discovered comparable relationships between obese and non-obese people.
“It’s impossible to overlook a signal like this one, especially given the potential consequences if a new medication is developed to help people quit smoking,” the speaker stated. “That might significantly affect one’s health.”
The US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention state that although smoking rates have declined over time, cigarettes continue to be the biggest cause of avoidable illness and mortality in the country. According to a recent American Cancer Society study, smoking causes over one in five new occurrences of cancer as well as approximately one-third of cancer-related deaths annually.
However, the new study found that less than 1 in 10 adult cigarette smokers successfully stop each year, and that there hasn’t been much of a change in the alternatives for smoking cessation treatment in decades.
