Another cause for the trial’s failure may very well be that exenatide is way much less potent than its newer cousin semaglutide, higher often called Ozempic. Now that Ozempic is in every single place, anecdotal proof is mounting that these medication scale back cravings not only for meals, however for online shopping, smoking, nail-biting, and alcohol.

Now, the primary empirical proof to help the concept that medication like Ozempic may very well be an efficient remedy for AUD is starting to look. This week, a new paper revealed within the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry strengthened the case. The paper relayed a sequence of case research: six sufferers who had been prescribed semaglutide for weight reduction, however who additionally certified for having AUD. All six of the contributors displayed considerably decreased signs of AUD—even those that had achieved minimal weight reduction.

This small research is just the start. The authors are additionally operating a clinical trial in Tulsa, Oklahoma, semaglutide to deal with AUD; a sister study is being performed in Baltimore, Maryland. It’ll be at the least a 12 months and a half earlier than these trials have publishable knowledge, so this case sequence was executed with a purpose to set the desk for the medical trial knowledge, say research authors Kyle Simmons, professor of pharmacology and physiology at Oklahoma State University, and Jesse Richards, assistant professor of drugs on the University of Oklahoma. (Richards receives cost from Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly, who make GLP-1 receptor agonist medication, to talk at conferences.)

While scientists aren’t sure how these medication work to dampen alcohol cravings, it’s suspected to work on the identical pathways that produce a shrunken urge for food. A thirst for booze is regarded as pushed by the rewarding properties that alcohol produces, delivered by a bump of dopamine launched within the mind. Over time, that dopamine flurry reinforces a need for alcohol.

GLP-1 receptors are discovered dotted across the physique, together with within the mind buildings that management our reward pathways. These receptors management the discharge of the hormone GLP-1, which has a large number of roles to play within the physique, together with how we reply to alcohol.

What medication like semaglutide, which mimic the actions of GLP-1, appear to do is decrease the quantity of the substance required—like meals or alcohol—to really feel satiated. Richards says some sufferers report going to an occasion the place they’d usually anticipate to drink rather a lot, like a sports activities recreation or a fishing journey, “and instead of drinking their normal amount, they would drink one drink, and then kind of get bored and forget about it,” he says.