Weight loss drugs could 'revolutionise' treatment for alcohol abuse

drugs could "revolutionise the treatment of use disorder" by "effortlessly" slashing the amount that people drink, a study suggests. Patients prescribed them to lose weight also cut their booze intake by almost two thirds after four months, the research found.

receptor agonists are a class of medications that mimic the action of hormones which suppress appetite. They include semaglutide, the active ingredient in Wegovy weight loss jabs and the type 2 medication . Study leader Professor Carel le Roux, of University College Dublin, said it is not yet fully understood how the drugs might curb addiction.

One theory is that they activate areas of the brain associated with reward, which are common to the satisfaction gained from eating and the pleasure from alcohol. Patients described the effects on alcohol intake as "effortless", Prof le Roux said.

He added: "The discovery that GLP1 agonists significantly reduce alcohol intake is extremely important because there is currently no effective treatment for alcohol use disorder which is a major public health problem.

"This research points to a potentially new pharmacological treatment paradigm for alcohol use disorder which could yield enormous benefits for society."

The analysis included 262 overweight adults prescribed semaglutide or liraglutide. They were categorised into non-drinkers (11.8%), rare drinkers who consumed less than 10 units per week (19.8%), or regular drinkers who consumed more than 10 units per week (68.4%).

Some 188 participants were followed up after four months. Their alcohol intake was found to have dropped from an average of 11.3 to 4.3 units per week - a reduction of seven units or almost two thirds. Among the regular drinkers, typical alcohol intake fell even more from 23.2 to 7.8 units per week.

Patients reported feeling too full to have their evening drink after a meal. If they did drink, they felt satiated and nauseous sooner and suffered worse hangovers than usual.

They also described drinking at a slower pace which was less enjoyable, an effect likely due to a reduced rate of alcohol absorption.

Prof le Roux said: "Alcohol use disorder can be thought of as a loss of control regarding the use of alcohol. Our research indicates that GLP1 agonists substantially increase the control that patients have over their alcohol intake.

"GLP1-agonists provide guard rails for patients by reducing their desire, lowering their threshold for nausea, forcing them to drink at a slower pace and exacerbating the hangover, thereby creating a negative feedback loop in which the patient can continue to drink but simply don't do so excessively.

"This would make treatment for alcohol use disorder far more attractive and increase compliance." The findings will be presented at the European Congress on Obesity in Malaga, this weekend.

Dr Stephen Burgess, group leader at Cambridge University's MRC Biostatistics Unit, noted that the study was observational so could not prove the drugs caused the drop in alcohol intake.

But he described the results as "so unambiguous as to rule out any other explanation as implausible. No study participant reported their alcohol consumption was higher after treatment."

Dr Burgess added: "These drugs are generally safe and well-tolerated, and currently there are few effective treatments for alcohol addiction, so this is an exciting possibility for reducing harm in heavy drinkers."

Dr Riccardo De Giorgi, clinical lecturer at Oxford University's department of psychiatry, said the results were promising but larger clinical trials involving patients with alcohol use disorders are needed.

More than 310,000 adults in England were in contact with drug and alcohol treatment services in the year to March 2024, an increase of 7% on the previous year.

Professor Kamila Hawthorne, chair of the Royal College of GPs, said emerging research should be taken into account for clinical guidelines on the use of weight loss drugs.

She added: "Millions of our patients struggle with both obesity and alcohol consumption, and both can have a serious impact on their health.

"There is clearly a lot of potential for weight loss drugs - which are still very new medications - to have wide-ranging benefits for patients, so it's good to see research being undertaken to explore these.

"However, it's also important that medical interventions aren't seen as a silver bullet for either weight-loss or to suppress cravings for alcohol."