Weight loss drugs ‘could slash alcohol hospital admissions’, study suggests

Weight loss drugs such as Wegovy and Mounjaro have been linked to a fall in the number of people who are dependent on alcohol being admitted to hospital.

GLP-1s are primarily used to treat diabetes and obesity by mimicking hormones to regulate blood sugar and reduce appetite.

Studies suggest the medication could also help curb alcohol consumption.

However, researchers in the US said the evidence “remains limited and mixed”.

Experts analysed alcohol-related hospital admissions for 40,703 people who had started either semaglutide, which includes the brand Wegovy, or tirzepatide, also known as Mounjaro, between January 2018 and December 2024.

All were involved in four different studies: an anti-diabetic medication trial; a weight loss drug trial; a study looking at medication for people with type 2 diabetes with alcohol issues; and a trial looking at drugs for obese people with alcohol issues.

The analysis found GLP-1 drugs slashed the risk of alcohol-related hospital admission by 26 per cent compared with other diabetes medicines.

Among those using the drugs for weight loss, the risk was 32 per cent lower compared with other obesity medications.

Elsewhere, weight loss jabs lowered the risk of alcohol-related hospital admission by 63 per cent and 65 per cent respectively among type 2 diabetics with alcohol problems and obese people with alcohol problems.

The latest available figures show there were more than one million hospital admissions related to alcohol in England in 2023-2024.

Researchers said the findings, published in the journal BMJ Open, “may suggest a potential role” for GLP-1 medications “in the context” of alcohol use disorder, although further research is needed.

Reacting to the findings, Colin Angus, professor of alcohol policy at Sheffield University Addictions Research Group, said: “This looks like a reasonable study that adds to a growing body of evidence that GLP-1s may reduce alcohol-related harm.

“However, this is a US-based observational study, and newer GLP-1s are expensive treatments, meaning there may well be some important differences between the people taking GLP-1s and those not taking them that may not be fully controlled for.

“For example, it is more likely that people from more affluent groups, with better health insurance, can afford them. The authors of the study acknowledge this.

“I’d view this as adding a little more weight to the emerging evidence, rather than the definitive word on the matter.”