Popular weight-loss and diabetes drugs show promise in smoking cessation, study suggests

A growing body of evidence suggests that usage semaglutide may lead to reduced drug use, and a large new study shows a promising link between the drug and tobacco use. But experts emphasize that more research is needed before using over-the-counter medications for smoking cessation.

In a study published Monday in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine, researchers followed the medical records of more than 200,000 people who started medication to treat type 2 diabetes, including about 6,000 people who were taking the medication. of semaglutide such as Ozempic.

Over the course of a year, people who started using semaglutide were less likely to have medical problems for tobacco use problems, prescriptions for smoking cessation medications, or cessation counseling. smoking than those who started other diabetes medications such as insulin and metformin.

The authors of the study note that the reasons why people may be less likely to seek treatment for a tobacco use problem vary widely; it may suggest that their tobacco use has decreased or that they are no longer willing to seek help to quit smoking, for example.

There may be a combination of medication and patient-driven change, said Dr. Disha Narang, an endocrinologist and director of obesity medicine at Endeavor Health in Chicago, who was not involved in the new research.

“If I have a patient with type 2 diabetes who is on one of these agents and has a history of smoking, often, our visits include a cessation discussion. smoking,” he said. “These people may start to pay attention to their long-term health and make some lifestyle changes because they are being treated for diabetes.”

Also, the new study did not measure the severity of tobacco use, such as the number of cigarettes smoked per day, cravings or withdrawal.

The injectable drug Ozempic is shown Saturday, July 1, 2023, in Houston. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip, File)

Understanding how semaglutide affects these factors is “important” to decide whether the drug can be used for smoking cessation, said Dr. Nora Volkow, director of the National Center on Drug Abuse and co-author of the new report. Also, more work will be needed to understand the optimal dosage and side effects before using the blockbuster drug in a new way, he said.

But some preliminary research suggests that semaglutide and other GLP-1 drugs may interact with the brain’s reward system in a way that helps control cravings, whether for food, nicotine, alcohol or other drugs. .

“The main driver of why many of us overeat has to do with the reinforcing positive responses we get from eating certain foods. And it’s the same food cycle as the drugs,” said Volkow.

Although important questions remain, Volkow said she is impressed with how consistent the research has been when it comes to the relationship between semaglutide use and reduced drug use — across a variety of factors. and among different patient groups. A new study found similar links among the obese and non-obese.

“A signal like this cannot be ignored, especially because of how great it would be if, in fact, we had a new drug to treat smoking cessation,” he said. .” “That can seriously affect health.”

The number of smokers in the United States has decreased over time, but cigarette smoking remains the leading cause of preventable disease and death, according to the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. A recent study by the American Cancer Society found that smoking contributes to nearly 1 in 5 new cancer deaths and nearly a third of all cancer deaths each year. .

But fewer than 1 in 10 adult smokers succeed in quitting each year, according to a new study, and smoking cessation treatments haven’t changed much in decades. .