A new study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine on Monday reveals a promising link between popular weight-loss and diabetes medications and decreased tobacco use. Researchers tracked the medical records of over 200,000 individuals, including nearly 6,000 using semaglutide medications such as Ozempic, to explore this potential connection.
The findings suggest that those who started using semaglutide were significantly less likely to seek medical treatment for tobacco use disorders, prescriptions for smoking cessation medications, or counseling compared to those who began other diabetes medications like insulin and metformin. However, experts caution that further research is necessary before these medications can be recommended for smoking cessation.
Dr. Disha Narang, an endocrinologist and director of obesity medicine at Endeavor Health in Chicago, highlighted the importance of understanding the varied reasons behind the decreased medical encounters for tobacco use. It could indicate reduced tobacco use or a reduced willingness to seek help for quitting smoking.
Dr. Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse and co-author of the study, emphasized the need to understand how semaglutide affects the severity of tobacco use, including the number of cigarettes consumed, cravings, and withdrawal symptoms. Early research suggests that semaglutide and other GLP-1 medications might modulate cravings by interacting with the brain’s reward system, which could apply to various substances like nicotine, alcohol, and other drugs.
Despite the promising findings, Volkow stressed the importance of addressing key questions, such as appropriate dosage and potential adverse effects, before these medications can be used off-label for smoking cessation. “A signal like this one cannot be ignored,” she said, noting the potential health impact if these medications prove effective in treating smoking cessation.
Smoking remains the leading cause of preventable disease and death in the United States, contributing to nearly one in five new cancer cases and almost a third of cancer deaths annually, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Despite declining smoking rates, fewer than one in ten adult cigarette smokers succeed in quitting each year, highlighting the need for new and effective smoking cessation treatments.
As research continues, the potential of semaglutide medications to curb smoking offers a hopeful prospect for improving public health and reducing the burden of tobacco-related diseases.
