The alcohol benefit of GLP-1 drugs outlasted the prescription by 182 days

Swedish register data compared the same individuals during and outside periods of GLP-1 treatment and found that time on the medicine reduced hospitalizations tied to alcohol use disorder and to substance use disorder. Following a person against themselves strips out confounding a between-groups design cannot.

After treatment stopped, the two came apart. The protective association held for alcohol use disorder through the first 182 days and did not hold for substance use disorder. Pharmacology offers a reason: GLP-1 neurons in the nucleus of the solitary tract project straight into the ventral tegmental area and the nucleus accumbens, the dopamine nodes behind compulsive use.

Hospital admissions, though, are an iceberg's tip. A review of the Swedish register put the median positive predictive value of its codes at 84 percent, solid for population inference and blind to drinking quantity, craving scores, or anyone who relapses without reaching an emergency room.

Overlap makes the question urgent: a 2023 study estimated 3.8 percent of US adults carry both alcohol use disorder and obesity. Randomized evidence with follow-up at 90, 182 and 365 days after stopping is still owed, and where this fits belongs with a qualified clinician who knows a person's health history.

Read the full story at The Clinical Trial Vanguard ↗

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