A team at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis analysed electronic health records for 606,434 US veterans with type 2 diabetes. The participants were split into two groups: 524,817 without a prior substance use disorder and 81,617 with a prior disorder. Researchers followed records for up to three years from when patients started a GLP‑1 receptor agonist or a different diabetes drug called an SGLT2 inhibitor.
Among people without a prior disorder, GLP‑1 use was associated with a 14% lower risk of developing any substance use disorder, with larger declines for alcohol and opioids. The authors report this equals seven fewer new substance use disorder diagnoses per 1,000 GLP‑1 users.
For those with an existing disorder, GLP‑1 use was linked to fewer severe harms after three years: reductions in emergency visits, hospitalisations, overdose and drug‑related death. The senior author said the drugs likely blunt craving, and the team recommends clinical trials to test GLP‑1 medicines for addiction. The research was funded by the US Department of Veterans Affairs.
Difficult words
- analyse — to study information carefully to find meaninganalysed
- electronic health record — a digital file with a patient's medical informationelectronic health records
- substance use disorder — a health condition of harmful drug or alcohol use
- GLP‑1 receptor agonist — a medicine that affects certain body receptors
- hospitalisation — the process of staying in hospital for treatmenthospitalisations
- craving — a strong desire to use a drug
- diagnosis — a doctor's identification of a medical conditiondiagnoses
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Discussion questions
- Do you think it is important to test GLP‑1 medicines for addiction in clinical trials? Why?
- If GLP‑1 drugs reduce emergency visits and hospitalisations, how could that affect patients or health services?
- What concerns might people have about using diabetes medicines to treat addiction?
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