DENVER — A weight-loss drug used to treat obesity and diabetes has shown promise to treat another disorder: opioid addiction.
“For them to have any time when they might be free of that craving seems to be very hopeful,” said Patricia “Sue” Grigson, a behavioral neuroscientist at Penn State College of Medicine in Hershey. The vast majority of drug overdose deaths in the United States are due to opioids (SN: 2/14/24).
The drug, called liraglutide, mimics a hormone called GLP-1 that the body releases after people eat. Wegovy and Ozempic — brand names for semaglutide, a molecule that induces weight loss more effectively than liraglutide — also imitate the hormone.
It’s unclear exactly how the drugs work when it comes to weight loss, but researchers think such GLP-1 dupes prompt the body and brain to make people feel full (SN: 12/13/23).
2024-02-17 20:20:52
Source from www.sciencenews.org
