Anti-obesity drugs linked to decreased alcohol use, probably because of results on cravings and reward programs, with behavioral methods additionally enjoying a task.
Examine: Alcohol Use and Antiobesity Medicine Remedy. Picture Credit score: PeopleImages.com – Yuri A / Shutterstock.com
In a latest examine revealed within the JAMA Community Open, researchers evaluated modifications in alcohol use amongst people enrolled in a telehealth weight administration program after initiating antiobesity treatment (AOM).
How do AOMs affect alcohol use?
AOMs, akin to glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1 RAs), are efficient for attaining vital weight reduction. Notably, GLP-1 RAs have additionally been linked to decreased incidence and recurrence of alcohol use dysfunction, thus suggesting potential twin advantages of those drugs.
Investigating the affect of assorted AOMs on alcohol consumption can present invaluable insights into their broader behavioral results. Comparative research on completely different AOMs and their affect on alcohol use are important to understanding their therapeutic scope and mechanisms higher. Thus, additional analysis is required to discover these interactions and inform higher approaches in weight administration and habit remedy.
Concerning the examine
Within the present examine, individuals had been recruited from the WeightWatchers (WW) Clinic telehealth medical weight administration program. Eligibility standards included people who initiated an AOM between January 2022 and August 2023 and refilled the identical AOM between October and November 2023.
The Henry Ford Well being institutional evaluation board accepted the examine. Knowledgeable consent was eliminated, as information had been collected as a part of medical care and subsequently deidentified. The examine adhered to the Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Research in Epidemiology (STROBE) pointers.
AOMs had been categorized as bupropion, metformin, and naltrexone, first-generation GLP-1 RAs akin to liraglutide and dulaglutide, or second-generation GLP-1 RAs akin to tirzepatide and semaglutide. People utilizing an AOM previous to enrollment or with a historical past of bariatric surgical procedure because of differing danger profiles for alcohol use dysfunction had been excluded from the evaluation.
Baseline surveys collected demographic information, together with age, intercourse at delivery, race, ethnicity, peak, weight, and weekly alcohol consumption. Physique mass index (BMI) was calculated from reported peak and weight measurements.
All examine individuals accomplished follow-up surveys reporting alcohol use on the time of AOM refill. Statistical evaluation utilized multivariate logistic regression to judge alcohol use modifications whereas incorporating covariates linked to weight and alcohol consumption. Analyses had been carried out utilizing R software program.
Examine findings
Information had been obtained from a complete of 14,053 people, 86% of whom had been feminine. The imply age of the individuals was 43.2 years, whereas the imply BMI was 36. About 0.8% of the examine individuals failed to finish the follow-up survey.
Over 86% of the examine cohort had been prescribed second- era GLP-1 RAs, whereas smaller teams obtained first-generation GLP-1 RAs, bupropion/naltrexone, or metformin. The examine cohort included people throughout a variety of weight problems courses, 41.3% of whom had been categorised as weight problems class I, 26% as class II, and 21% as class III.
At baseline, 53.3% of examine individuals reported consuming alcohol, 45.3% of whom decreased their alcohol use after initiating an AOM. In the meantime, 52.4% of those individuals reported no change of their alcohol consumption habits, whereas 2.3% reported elevated alcohol use.
Throughout all individuals, 24.2% skilled a discount in alcohol use. People with larger weight problems courses and extra vital baseline alcohol consumption had been extra more likely to report decreased alcohol use.
Individuals receiving bupropion/naltrexone had been extra more likely to lower alcohol use as in comparison with these prescribed metformin. Nevertheless, this affiliation misplaced statistical significance after adjusting for weight reduction, thus suggesting that the noticed reductions in alcohol use could also be partially mediated by weight reduction itself quite than the particular results of bupropion/naltrexone.
The period between AOM initiation and follow-up was a mean of 224.6 days, throughout which individuals skilled a mean weight lack of 12.7% of their preliminary physique weight.
Conclusions
Practically half of people consuming alcohol at baseline decreased their alcohol consumption following the initiation of AOMs. Potential mechanisms for this affiliation embrace pharmacological results, akin to the power of naltrexone to cut back alcohol cravings, in addition to the affect of GLP-1 RAs on attenuating the rewarding results of alcohol use.
Diminished alcohol use amongst metformin customers might replicate behavioral modifications related to weight administration packages, by which limiting alcohol is inspired to cut back caloric consumption and improve cognitive restraint. Motivated participation in well being conduct interventions probably contributed to those findings.
