Study finds GLP-1 drugs can help curb SUDs

A study published by BMJ found that glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) drugs could help reduce the risk of various substance use disorders, including for alcohol, cannabis, nicotine, cocaine and opioids. The study examined records of more than 600,000 patients from the Department of Veterans Affairs who had Type 2 diabetes and took a GLP-1 or a sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 inhibitor, or SGLT2, for treatment. Additionally, the study found that people with pre-existing SUDs who took GLP-1 drugs had reduced risks of SUD-related emergency room visits, hospital admissions, overdose, suicide and death.