They found 8,103 people with a history of opioid use disorder who also had a prescription for obesity or diabetes drugs. The study also included more than 817,000 people with a history of alcohol use disorder, 5,621 of whom had a similar prescription.
The medicines analyzed in the study included drugs such as Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy and Ozempic and Lilly’s Mounjaro.
The results reveal “the possibilities of a novel therapeutic pathway in substance use treatment,” the authors, from Loyola University Chicago, state. But they caution that while the results are “promising,” they highlight the need for further research, particularly prospective clinical trials.
A word of caution
Until now, most of the existing research into using these types of drugs — known as GLP-1s and GIPs — to treat substance use disorders looked at its effects on animals, or were only small clinical trials.
But despite the promising results, Matt Field, a professor of psychology at the University of Sheffield, issued a note of caution over the study.
He said its findings relate largely to “very extreme instances of substance intoxication,” like overdoses.
