Obesity Drug Study Points to Effectiveness in Addiction Control

Findings Do Not Prove Anything About Causality But Seen as Good Starting Point

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NEW YORK — One of the world's largest studies of Ozempic, Mounjaro, and other blockbuster diabetes and obesity drugs highlighted their impact on the brain, pointing to benefits over conditions from addiction to schizophrenia.

The research tracked the effects of a class of drugs called GLP-1 receptor agonists on diabetic US veterans for up to five years, making it one of the most extensive so far on a class of medicines that includes Novo Nordisk's Wegovy and Eli Lilly & Co.'s Zepbound.

The study, published on Jan. 20 in the journal Nature Medicine, found protective effects related to impulse control, adding to evidence that the drugs may not only suppress appetite but also help curb alcoholism and other addictions.

"These drugs are helping us uncover the real underpinnings of obesity," said co-author Ziyad Al-Aly, director of the Clinical Epidemiology Centre at the Veterans Affairs St. Louis Health Care System.

"Effectively treating obesity requires drugs that address the root cause: addictive-like behavior towards food," he said. "This may explain why GLP-1s have been so spectacularly successful as anti-obesity medicines, while many previous treatments that didn't target the addiction pathway have failed miserably."