Ann Intern Med

Semaglutide shows promise in tobacco use disorder

July 31, 2024

Semaglutide treatment for T2DM and obesity was associated with a lower risk of tobacco use disorder (TUD)-related health care measures relative to other antidiabetes medications, including other GLP-1RAs, particularly in the first month of usage. Study authors call for clinical trials to investigate the effectiveness of semaglutide for treating TUD.

• A series of seven emulation target trials including 222,942 new users of antidiabetes medications (including 5,967 of semaglutide) were examined to identify the association of semaglutide with TUD-related health care measures in patients with comorbid T2DM and TUD over 12 months.
• Semaglutide was associated with a significant reduction in risk for medical encounters for TUD diagnosis compared with other antidiabetes medications, and was strongest compared with insulins (hazard ratio [HR], 0.68; 95% CI, 0.63 to 0.74) and weakest but still statistically significant compared with other GLP-1RAs (HR, 0.88; CI, 0.81 to 0.96).
• A reduction in smoking cessation medication prescriptions and counseling was also associated with semaglutide use. Similar findings were observed in patients with and without a diagnosis of obesity. For most of the group comparisons, differences occurred within 30 days of prescription initiation.

Source:

Wang W, et al. (2024, July 30). Ann Intern Med. Association of Semaglutide With Tobacco Use Disorder in Patients With Type 2 Diabetes: Target Trial Emulation Using Real-World Data. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39074369/