Ozempic and Wegovy boxes produced by Novo Nordisk at a pharmacy in London, Britain, March 8, 2024.
Holly Adams | Reuters
A version of this article first appeared in CNBC's Healthy Returns newsletter, which delivers the latest health care news directly to your inbox. Subscribe here to receive future issues.
Another study shows that blockbuster GLP-1 drugs may offer health benefits beyond diabetes and weight loss.
This time, more research shows that it may significantly reduce addictive behaviors.
Drugs such as Novo NordiskThe popular diabetes injection Ozempic can cut drug and alcohol use by nearly half, according to a new study published last week in the scientific journal Addiction. This suggests that Ozempic and similar medications could become a new treatment for opioid and alcohol use disorder.
“This study not only contributes to the evolution of the treatment landscape for substance abuse, but also opens possibilities for more comprehensive and effective treatment strategies for those affected by” these two disorders, the study authors wrote.
Here's why this is important.
More tools are needed to address the ongoing opioid epidemic in the United States, which was declared a public health emergency in 2017. In 2021, an estimated 2.5 million people aged 18 or older in the United States had a use disorder opioids in the past year, but only 22% of them. He received medications for his treatment, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse. The National Center for Drug Abuse Statistics says opioids are a factor responsible for about 72% of overdose deaths in the United States.
Meanwhile, nearly 29 million people ages 12 and older had an alcohol use disorder in the past year, according to a 2023 national survey. Excessive alcohol use is the leading cause of preventable death in the United States, where About 178,000 people die from it each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Let's dive into the new data.
Researchers from Loyola University Chicago examined the electronic health data of more than 500,000 people with a history of opioid use disorder, 8,000 of whom were taking either GLP-1s or similar treatments called GIPs, such as Eli LillyMongaro weight loss treatment. Monjaro mimics GLP-1 and another gut hormone called GIP to reduce appetite and regulate blood sugar, while Ozempic targets only GLP-1.
The study found that people who took GLP-1s or GIPs had a 40% lower rate of opioid overdose than those who did not. Likewise, an analysis of more than 5,000 people with a history of alcohol use disorder who took these treatments had a 50% lower rate of intoxication compared to those who did not take them.
The results are not surprising. It is consistent with other studies showing the potential of GLP-1s and GIPs in reducing substance-seeking behaviors such as alcohol and nicotine use. Other research has also shown promising results in treating kidney failure, fatty liver disease, Alzheimer's disease, and obstructive sleep apnea.
Novo Nordisk's weight-loss drug Wegovy also received approval in the United States in March to reduce the risk of serious cardiovascular complications in adults with obesity and heart disease.
But more research will likely be needed to confirm the new study's findings. Researchers have called for more clinical trials that randomly assign patients with substance use disorder to receive GLP-1 or a placebo, to confirm the potential therapeutic benefits of drugs like Ozempic, Wegovy, and Mounjaro.
We will continue to monitor what other research comes out in this area, so stay tuned to our coverage.
Feel free to send any tips, suggestions, story ideas and data to Annikakim at annikakim.constantino@nbcuni.com.
The latest in healthcare technology: Tech companies talk about the future of artificial intelligence in healthcare
I'm Ashley, reporting live from Las Vegas.
I've spent the last few days on the expo floor at a healthcare technology conference called HLTH. Companies like Microsoft, Nvidia, Amazon, Google and more than 12,000 other industry leaders gathered there this year.
This was my second time attending the conference, and while there's a certain irony in walking through smoke-filled casinos to get to meetings about the future of healthcare, it's a useful way to gauge which technologies are of interest to the industry.
As I predicted in my coverage on Sunday, generative AI dominated my discussions, as it did last year. However, the focus has been less on the promise or potential of the technology, and more on practical use cases for this technology in the near term. If you're still skeptical about how serious health systems are about AI, the answer is undoubtedly yes.
Service providers want AI tools that will deliver real returns for their organizations, both in terms of cost savings and efficiency. They are not willing to wait long to start seeing results. Providers are also looking for guidance on how to effectively evaluate and implement the hundreds of solutions that have come to market. And investors are asking tougher questions about what a viable business model for an AI company in healthcare actually looks like.
There has been a lot of focus on how AI can help reduce the amounts of documentation that doctors and nurses are responsible for, a major cause of burnout in the industry. This has been a hot topic all year, so it wasn't a surprise to me. For example, Microsoft, Google, GE HealthCare, and Amazon have introduced new tools to address this problem.
“Primary care has always been plagued by administrative tasks. This is prevalent in health care, but it is particularly acute in primary care,” Dr. Andrew Diamond, chief medical officer at Amazon's One Medical primary care company, told CNBC. “AI holds tremendous promise for automating or simplifying a great deal of this work.”
But while AI to address managerial burnout has certainly been popular, other topics are starting to emerge as well. There has been a lot of talk about AI agents, for example, that can help users answer questions, automate processes, and perform specific tasks. Many companies are also working on artificial intelligence tools that can help identify and streamline relevant clinical trials for patients. Both Microsoft and GE HealthCare have announced early-stage tools in these areas.
AI won't change the industry overnight, but I'm told repeatedly that innovation happens quickly — especially by the standards of healthcare, which is notoriously slow to adopt new technology.
These companies are trying to tackle complex problems, but there was a real sense of optimism on the ground. Service providers, big tech companies, and startups all seem to agree that AI is here to stay, and they clearly intend to use it.
Feel free to send any tips, suggestions, story ideas, and pitches to Ashley at ashley.capoot@nbcuni.com.