Can Weight-Loss Drugs Help Prevent Overdoses? New Study Reveals Surprising Health Benefits

A new study suggests that medications like Ozempic could help reduce the risk of overdose and alcohol intoxication in people with substance abuse disorders.

Dr. Fatima Cody Stanford, an associate professor of medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital said she's an advocate for this type of research.

"I think these are actually encouraging studies," Stanford said.

This specific study, published in the journal "Addiction," suggests that weight-loss medications may reduce the risk of overdose and alcohol intoxication.

"We're seeing that these medications which are glucagon-like-peptide one receptor agonists and what we call GIPs, seem to have broad-scale use," said Stanford.

Researchers looked at the health records of over a million people, finding that of those who took a weight-loss drug, 40% had a lower chance of overdosing and 50% had a lower chance of getting drunk.

I think that there's promise and potential for these becoming a use case scenario where we actually have data and actually potentially have approval for these agents in the future," Stanford said.
Dr. David Lau, a professor in the Department of Medicine at the University of Calgary said the study provides supportive evidence of the unexpected benefits of these weight-loss drugs.

This class of medication may actually have benefits in terms of improving or reducing addictive behaviors," said Lau.
In addition to potentially treating addiction, Stanford said these medications can also help break the stigma associated with substance abuse.

"That we have therapy that can come along and help reduce the stigma and bias that these individuals have experienced for so long," said Stanford.

When it comes to prescribing these medications to treat substance abuse, right now it isn't possible, because they aren't approved by the FDA for that purpose.