Individuals with a historical past of opioid abuse who took Novo Nordisk A/S’s Ozempic had been much less more likely to overdose, in response to a research that provides to a rising physique of proof suggesting it could assist handle habit.
Sufferers on semaglutide, the important thing ingredient in Novo’s diabetes drug Ozempic and the weight-loss shot Wegovy, had been lower than half as more likely to overdose as these on insulin, in response to the research revealed Wednesday in JAMA Community Open. These taking semaglutide had been 63% much less more likely to overdose than these taking DPP-4 inhibitors, a broadly used kind of diabetes capsule.
The lower was outstanding, stated Rong Xu, a professor of biomedical informatics at Case Western Reserve College, who led the research. Her group had beforehand linked semaglutide to a discount in each alcohol use dysfunction and smoking. That is the primary time a research of this dimension has checked out opioid overdoses, Xu stated.
As use of highly effective new weight-loss medication spreads, curiosity is rising in whether or not the medicines can blunt not simply urge for food but additionally cravings for different substances. Whereas drugmakers have been reluctant to dive into the realm, Novo is alcohol consumption in a trial that began this yr.
The Case Western research used medical information to create a database of sufferers with related traits and adopted them for a yr to see in the event that they wanted medical look after an overdose. It included individuals with an opioid use dysfunction, with out having the ability to regulate for whether or not they had been energetic addicts, Xu stated. All of the sufferers additionally had kind 2 diabetes, and about two-thirds had weight problems.
The diminished threat with semaglutide held true in comparison with most different diabetes drug varieties, together with older medicines that work in the same approach to Ozempic, excluding Eli Lilly & Co.’s Trulicity. The researchers didn’t evaluate the Novo medication with Lilly’s newer diabetes shot, Mounjaro.
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