Novo Nordisk, the maker of Ozempic, says it plans to study how the drug reduces users’ desire to drink alcohol.
The company announced earlier this month that it will organize a 28-week study that will evaluate the effects of semaglutide, the active ingredient in Ozempic, and other drugs, on alcohol consumption.
Novo Nordisk said in a statement to CNN that this new trial will examine whether the drug can improve liver health through its effect on increased liver fibrosis or scarring, not specifically alcohol addiction.
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Ozempic can ‘potentially’ change your personality — and your sex life, says an expert
“Secondary endpoints include safety and tolerability and changes in alcohol consumption,” a Novo Nordisk spokesperson said in a statement to the outlet. “There is a significant unmet medical need in alcohol-related liver disease, and the first line of treatment for the condition is a lifestyle intervention to abstain from drinking alcohol.”
They added: “Although not all patients in the trial will have an alcohol use disorder, it is natural to include alcohol use as a secondary endpoint,”
The trial aims to have 240 participants and is scheduled to begin on Monday, May 20, according to a government database, CNN reported.
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Semaglutide injection pen set.
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Ania Jastreboff, MD, PhD, an obesity doctor at Yale University, spoke to PEOPLE last year about how some patients notice a reduced desire for alcohol while using Ozempic.
“Clinically, I saw this. Some patients report that they have less desire to drink alcohol. Let’s say, before they drank a couple of glasses of wine, now they will drink half a glass of wine, and the rest of the glass does not occur to them”, she explained.
“So it’s like they have a reward, or whatever they were getting from drinking that wine, they have it from a smaller amount. Or they’re just not into a glass of wine,” Jastreboff added.
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A woman injects a slimming pen into her stomach (photo).
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dr. Steven Batash, a board-certified gastroenterologist and weight loss expert at Batash Endoscopic Weight Loss, told PEOPLE in April that weight loss drugs have also been found to affect a person’s libido and even change their personality.
“GLP-1s specifically reduce the amount of dopamine the brain releases after people engage in behaviors like drinking, smoking or even eating a sweet dessert,” he explained.
“Dopamine is a neurotransmitter that ‘enhances the pleasure’ of doing these activities.” added Bataš. “When GLP-1 takes away that pleasure, they also eliminate the motivation to do those activities.”
Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education