Do obesity drugs treat addiction? Huge study hints at their promise

Byline - Study of 600,000 US military veterans shows that those who took anti-obesity medications were less likely to develop some complications of substance-use disorders.

Blockbuster GLP-1 medications might help people to avoid becoming addicted to drugs, including alcohol, cocaine and opioids, a massive study suggests [see ref]. It also found that, for those already dealing with addiction, the treatments are linked to a 50% reduction in the risk of dying from substance abuse.

The findings, published today in The BMJ, come from an analysis of electronic health records from more than 600,000 people in the database of the US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), which provides care for millions of military veterans. The study is the latest suggesting that GLP-1 drugs — which mimic a hormone called glucagon-like peptide 1 and are mainly prescribed to treat obesity and type 2 diabetes — can also play a part in curbing addiction.

The observational study confirms what physicians are seeing in their clinics and the results of some small clinical trials. But larger clinical trials are still needed to demonstrate whether the drugs could truly help people with substance-use disorders, specialists say.

The linked study (open access). They also have a very nice visual abstract that displays the results: https://www.bmj.com/content/392/bmj-2025-086886