Weight loss injection: Semaglutide could also help you quit smoking

Smoke-free thanks to weight loss injection?

The drugs Wegovy and Ozempic were originally developed to treat diabetes, but they became known as weight loss injections. The active ingredient semaglutide regulates blood sugar levels, so you feel full for longer. The result: the pounds fall off as long as you inject the drug regularly.

But as users lose weight, reports of side effects – both negative and positive – are increasing. Semaglutide is said to Increase risk of eye diseases and dangerous blockages cause, but also the Reduce cancer risk as well as against Alzheimer'scardiovascular diseases and kidney problems. And now it can even help you stop smoking.

Fewer requests for help due to nicotine addiction

According to Investigation by researchers at the Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine in Cleveland (USA), smokers who suffered from type 2 diabetes and took semaglutide required less medical support for their nicotine addiction than those who took seven other Diabetes-were taking medication. This included medical advice, prescription of medication and smoking cessation measures.

For their results, the research team led by Rong Xu analyzed the electronic health data of almost 229,000 patients with type 2 diabetes and diabetes mellitus from 2017 to 2023. 6,000 of them received Semaglutide.

To put it into context: Even though the active ingredient for weight reduction has only been in use in the USA since 2021, it was already approved as a diabetes drug at the end of 2017.

Does semaglutide suppress the reward center?

Whether semaglutide actually causes people to smoke less needs to be investigated more closely. But reports that the weight loss injection also works against addictions such as nicotine or alcoholhas happened several times. Scientists suspect that the active ingredient has a suppressive effect on the motivation for rewards.

However, the researchers led by Rong Xu point out that a reduction in medical interactions does not necessarily mean that patients no longer smoke. It could also simply be that they did not seek help and continued to smoke in secret. Clinical studies will now be conducted to investigate whether semaglutide can actually help people to stop smoking.