Weight loss drugs can help people quit smoking, study finds

Researchers call for special clinical trials to evaluate semaglutide’s potential for use in smoking cessation

Weight loss drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy that contain the active ingredient semaglutide may also help people quit smoking, a new study says.

The research, published in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine on Monday, found that semaglutide is associated with lower chances of people needing measures linked to tobacco addiction like medicines that help quit smoking.

Researchers, including those from the US National Institute on Drug Abuse, assessed health data from nearly 223,000 people, including those who had Type 2 diabetes and tobacco use disorder, and took anti-diabetes medications.

About 6,000 of the participants included in the study took semaglutide while the others used one of seven other diabetes medications.

Scientists also examined electronic health data obtained from the participants during a 12-month follow-up.

They assessed if the individuals met with a healthcare provider to treat their tobacco use or if they received medicines to quit smoking or counselling within 12 months.

Researchers found that semaglutide was associated with a lower risk for smoking-related health care needs like counselling compared to seven other anti-diabetes medications, including insulins and metformin.

Scientists found this as an indication that people taking semaglutide were likely more successful at quitting smoking.

The results could be seen within 30 days of prescription of semaglutide, they said.

“Semaglutide was associated with a significantly lower risk for medical encounters for tobacco use disorder diagnosis compared with other antidiabetes medications,” researchers wrote in the study.

“Semaglutide was associated with reduced smoking cessation medication prescriptions and counseling,” they wrote.

Similar effects could also be observed in subpopulations with a diagnosis of obesity, researchers say.

The findings are in line with previous reports suggesting there could be diminished cravings for nicotine when patients take semaglutide.

This may be due to drugs with semaglutide like Ozempic and Wegovy working on the brain’s reward centres.

Ozempic has been shown to decrease the abrupt surge of the feel-good hormone dopamine which is linked to alcohol, nicotine and even gambling addictions.

Citing some limitations of the study, they said there may have been documentation bias and missing data on current smoking behaviour of the participants.

However, scientists say the findings still highlight the need for special clinical trials to evaluate semaglutide’s potential for use in smoking cessation.