Ozempic and Similar Drugs May Offer Health Benefits Beyond Weight Loss, Including Reduced Alcohol Cravings

Mar. 15, 2025

Stock image of someone using Ozempic.Photo:Steve Christo/Corbis/Corbis/Getty

Steve Christo/Corbis/Corbis/Getty

Ozempic, Wegovy and Mounjaro may offer serious health benefits beyond weight loss.

“Diabetes, high blood pressure, sleep apnea, all of those things — they can get better, but that’s because of the weight loss,” Castro-Tié tells PEOPLE. “The common channel here is weight loss is leading to improvements in all of these things.”

Below are some of the conditions that anti-obesity medications may help improve:

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Heart Disease

As Castro-Tié explains, “The common goal in treating individuals that are struggling with their weight is getting them to lose that excess weight so that their bodies don’t have to work harder. Their hearts don’t have to work harder.”

Kidney Health

People taking semaglutide had a 24% lower chance of having a major kidney disease event than those taking a placebo, according to results published in theNew England Journal of Medicine.They were less likely to needdialysisor a kidney transplant, less likely to lose half of their kidney function, and less likely to die from kidney-related or cardiovascular issues.

Alzheimer’s Disease

Arecent studylinked semaglutide to lower risks of Alzheimer’s disease in people with type 2 diabetes. But it’s too early to say that Ozempic can help Alzheimer’s, Castro-Tié tells PEOPLE.

“We need to do some randomized control studies to make sure that B is happening because of A. It’s certainly worth exploring,” he says, adding that it’s time for “meaningful and well-designed research” to determine if Ozempic can slow the progression of the disease.

Fertility

“Ozempic babies”are making headlines, as women who said they’ve struggled with infertility are now getting pregnant while taking the drug. But as Dr. Iman Saleh, an obstetrician and gynecologist, and Director of Obesity Medicine at the Bariatrics Department at Northwell, told PEOPLE, this is due to weight loss — not the medication alone. “Even if it’s a 5-lb., 10-lb. weight loss, this can actually have patients resume ovulation and be able to get pregnant.”

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Polycystic Ovary Syndrome

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Stock image of Ozempic.Steve Christo/Corbis/Corbis/Getty

Alcohol and Drug Addiction

In the same way that GLP-1 drugs reduce food cravings, they also seem to reduce cravings for drugs and alcohol. A study in the journalAddictionfound that people addicted to alcohol who took Ozempic or similar medications had a 50% lower rate of binging on alcohol than those who did not. And people with opioid use disorder who were taking the medications had a 40% lower rate of opioid overdose.

“Some patients report that they have less desire to drink alcohol," Ania Jastreboff, M.D., PhD., an obesity medicine physician scientist at Yale University who was not involved in the study,told PEOPLE. In fact, Novo Nordisk, the manufacturer of Ozempic,announced plans to studywhether or not the drug can impact someone’s desire for alcohol.

However, Castro-Tié says the drug could have the opposite effect for some people. “Patients aren’t able to consume a large volume of food, but they’re looking for other ways to get that high, they’re looking for other ways to get the serotonin," he says. “Sometimes that addiction is transferred to something else."

He adds, “It speaks to the importance of making sure that we surround our patients with care — not just medical, clinical care, but also mental health care and the social support that they need.”

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source: people.com