GLP-1 drugs may fight addiction across every major substance, according to a study of 600,000 people

GLP-1 drugs are the first medication to show promise for treating addiction to a wide range of substances.

By: Ziyad Al-Aly, Washington University in St. Louis, The Conversation

Outlets: The Conversation

Published: March 4, 2026

Words: 1,594

Last Updated: 5 days, 19 hours ago

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By Ziyad Al-Aly, Washington University in St. Louis

A patient of mine, a veteran who had tried to quit smoking for over a decade, told me that after he started a GLP-1 drug for his diabetes, he lost interest in cigarettes. He didn’t use a patch. He didn’t set a quit date. He simply lost interest. It happened without effort.

Another patient on one of these drugs for weight loss told me that alcohol had …

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