Steven Klein physician and researcher at the nonprofit Caron Treatment Centers in Pennsylvania has pioneered the use of Ozempic not only in treating diabetes and obesity, but also to treat the food addiction that leads to the condition.
As the New York Times reports, Klein who suffered from food addiction in 2016, found that drugs such as Ozempic, Mounjaro and Wegowy known as GLP-1 receptor agonist drugs are not only as it is known, a valuable aid in the treatment of diabetes, but can actually help those who take them to limit the “unbridled desire for food” as well. In fact, these may work by lowering the levels of signals in the brain responsible for cravings.
“It just felt like my body knew when to stop eating,” said Klein, who now prescribes these drugs to his patients to treat their obesity or diabetes. He says that even his patients, since starting Ozempic therapy, have reported less cravings to eat large amounts of food and the desire to eat processed or over-caloric meals is significantly reduced.
According to Klein, if clinical data were to confirm that Ozempic and other GLP-1 receptor agonist drugs can also help treat food addiction it would be a breakthrough in addiction treatment as well as in the fight against obesity. “In addition, understanding how such drugs work on addiction could revolutionize the way we view it and how we treat it.”
These data will need to be further studied and possibly confirmed by researchers. Some experts have observed and believe that they may make food or addictive substances less pleasurable, even repulsive. Others argue that they suppress cravings so that people have fewer cravings that drive them to overindulge. Still others argue that drugs like Ozempic may act by altering the body’s so-called set point, which signals to the brain the body’s correct and balanced sense of satiety and when to stop eating.
Building on this yet-to-be officially confirmed data, Dr. Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, is working on a plan to allow more government-funded clinical trials of GLP-1 receptor agonist drugs to find out whether they may also prove useful in combating opioid addiction.
