A box of Ozempic made by Novo Nordisk is seen at a drug store in London, Britain March 8, 2024.
Hollie Adams|Reuters
Novo Nordisk‘s hit diabetes mellitus medication Ozempic might lower the danger of opioid overdoses in specific people, showing its prospective as an alternate therapy for opioid usage problem, according to a new study launchedWednesday
The energetic component in Ozempic, semaglutide, was related to a “significantly lower” opioid overdose danger than various other diabetes mellitus medicines in individuals detected with both Type 2 diabetes mellitus and opioid usage problem, stated the paper released in JAMANetwork Open
The results recommend that Ozempic might use prospective as a device for resolving the recurring U.S opioid epidemic, which was declared a public health emergency in 2017. There are presently 3 reliable medicines to avoid overdoses from opioid usage problem, however a brand-new choice is required since some people merely do not utilize them, stated lead research co-authorDr Rong Xu, a biomedical informatics teacher atCase Western Reserve University
In 2022, just about a quarter of people with opioid usage problem obtained advised medicines for it, and several discontinued therapy within 6 months, according to the Centers for Disease Control andPrevention The National Center for Drug Abuse Statistics claims opioids are a consider around 72% of overdose fatalities in the united state
The research results additionally include in placing proof that an extremely preferred course of diabetes mellitus and weight problems therapies called GLP-1s might have a number of health and wellness advantages past controling blood glucose and advertising fat burning. Novo Nordisk, its opponent Eli Lilly and independent scientists have actually been competing to research those medicines’ capacity in people with persistent problems varying from kidney condition and rest apnea to addicting actions such as pure nicotine and alcohol usage.
In the research launched Wednesday, scientists from Case Western Reserve University and the National Institutes of Health assessed the digital documents of almost 33,000 people that were recommended semaglutide or various other diabetes mellitus medicines in between December 2017 and June 2023. The research was not moneyed byNovo Nordisk
Around 3,000 individuals were recommended semaglutide shots, while the continuing to be people obtained therapies that varied from insulins to older GLP-1s for diabetes mellitus. That consists of dulaglutide, the energetic component in Eli Lilly’s medication Trulicity, and liraglutide, which is the energetic component inNovo Nordisk’s Victoza
Researchers kept an eye on the amount of opioid overdose instances took place in people throughout a 1 year duration after they quit therapy with semaglutide or various other medicines. For instance, there were 42 instances of opioid overdose amongst a team of people that obtained semaglutide, compared to 97 instances amongst one more team that obtained insulins, according to the research.
That shows a 58% reduced danger of opioid overdose in people that took semaglutide, Xu stated.
But Xu kept in mind the research has restrictions because it counts on information from digital health and wellness documents.
More research study, especially scientific tests that arbitrarily appoint people to obtain semaglutide or various other therapies, is required to validate just how much Ozempic and various other GLP-1s can assist those with opioid usage problem, according to the research writers. Those randomized research studies can additionally figure out whether those therapies are valuable to the basic opioid usage problem populace or specific people with the problem.
“The extent to which GLP-1 medications could benefit treatment of opioid use disorders and help prevent overdoses is unclear,” Dr Nora Volkow, lead research co-author and supervisor of the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health, stated in a declaration to. “The preliminary findings from this study point to the possibility that GLP-1 medications may have value in helping to prevent opioid overdoses.”
Xu included that the scientists prepare to research semaglutide in people with opioid usage problem and weight problems.
