It’s already known for whittling down waistlines – and now Ozempic looks set to have the same effect on wine consumption. Research recently published in the journal JAMA Psychiatry found semaglutide, the weight loss medication also sold under the brand name Wegovy, reduced cravings in people with alcohol use disorder.
The study by California’s USC Institute for Addiction Science divided 48 participants into two groups and found those injected with semaglutide drank less in each sitting than those offered a placebo. It is not the first research to link the jabs – originally designed as a diabetes treatment – to lower incidence of substance abuse. In October it was suggested in the journal Addiction that Ozempic might help opioid users too – among 500,000 people analysed with a history of opioid use disorder, the 8,000 who were separately prescribed semaglutide had a 40 per cent lower rate of opioid overdose.
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