Ozempic and Wegovy could help people quit smoking

Another study adds credence to the idea that semaglutide – the drug in medications such as Ozempic and Wegovy – could help treat addiction. Researchers found that people who were prescribed the drug for type 2 diabetes were then less likely to seek medical care for tobacco use than those taking other diabetes medications. 

Semaglutide helps treat obesity and type 2 diabetes by mimicking a hormone that reduces appetite and regulates blood sugar levels. Previous research has also linked it to lower rates of cannabis use disorder and alcoholism. 

To learn about semaglutide’s effect on tobacco addiction, Rong Xu at Case Western Reserve University in Ohio and her colleagues collected data from electronic health records on nearly 223,000 people in the US with type 2 diabetes and tobacco addiction. Nearly 6000 of them had been prescribed semaglutide, while the rest used one of seven other diabetes medications.

The researchers then tracked whether the individuals met with a healthcare provider for any tobacco use or received smoking cessation medications or counselling within a year of starting the medications.  

After accounting for variables such as age, sex, race and certain health conditions, the team found that those using semaglutide were less likely to receive any form of tobacco-related healthcare, on average, than those taking other medications. The researchers took this as a probable indication that these individuals had been more successful at quitting smoking.

For instance, semaglutide users were 32 per cent less likely to receive this care than insulin users and 18 per cent less likely than metformin users.  

It could be that people who take semaglutide are less likely to seek medical care for their tobacco use without having necessarily abstained from such products. But Xu says that all the individuals sought tobacco-related healthcare at similar rates before starting their type 2 diabetes medications, so semaglutide may actually have been helpful. 

This study wasn’t a randomised-controlled trial, which is the best form of medical evidence, and so these findings don’t definitively show that semaglutide is behind the effect, says Patricia Grigson-Kennedy at Pennsylvania State University. Still, other research shows semaglutide reduces activity in brain regions involved with reward processing and cravings, so it is possible that there could be some causal connection.