Skip to main content

Antiobesity Medications Tied to Decreased Alcohol Use

By Lori Solomon HealthDay Reporter

Medically reviewed by Carmen Pope, BPharm. Last updated on Dec 3, 2024.

via HealthDay

TUESDAY, Dec. 3, 2024 -- Nearly half of participants in a weight loss program who initiated an antiobesity medication and who consumed alcohol at baseline reported decreases in their alcohol use, according to a research letter published online Nov. 26 in JAMA Network Open.

Lisa R. Miller-Matero, Ph.D., from Henry Ford Health in Detroit, and colleagues examined changes in alcohol use among 14,053 individuals enrolled in a telehealth weight management program after initiation of an antiobesity medication (first- or second-generation glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists; January 2022 to August 2023). Most participants (86.2 percent) were prescribed a second-generation medication.

The researchers found that approximately half of participants reported drinking any alcohol at baseline (53.3 percent), and across all participants, 24.2 percent had a decrease in alcohol use. For the 7,491 participants with alcohol use at baseline, 45.3 percent reported decreasing a category of alcohol use, 52.4 percent reported no change, and 2.3 percent reported an increase. Further, among participants who reported alcohol use at baseline, those with a higher class of obesity and those with higher levels of drinking were more likely to lessen their use. Greater decreases in alcohol use were seen among individuals receiving bupropion and naltrexone compared with metformin. However, when controlling for weight loss, this association was no longer significant.

"Future research would benefit from a randomized trial comparing antiobesity medications with a placebo-controlled or nonpharmacological weight management group," the authors write.

Several authors reported ties to WW International.

Abstract/Full Text

Disclaimer: Statistical data in medical articles provide general trends and do not pertain to individuals. Individual factors can vary greatly. Always seek personalized medical advice for individual healthcare decisions.

© 2025 HealthDay. All rights reserved.

Read this next

Long-Term Obesity Linked to Expression of Aging Biomarkers

THURSDAY, July 17, 2025 -- Long-term obesity is associated with the expression of biomarkers denoting antagonistic and integrative aging hallmarks in adults aged 28 to 31 years...

ENDO: Older Age, Female Sex Tied to Greater Muscle Loss With Semaglutide

THURSDAY, July 17, 2025 -- Older age and female sex may be associated with greater muscle loss in adults with obesity prescribed semaglutide, and greater muscle loss is...

GLP-1 Receptor Agonist Use in T2D Tied to Increased Risk for GERD, GERD Complications

THURSDAY, July 17, 2025 -- For patients with type 2 diabetes, glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1 RAs) are associated with an increased risk for gastroesophageal...

More news resources

Subscribe to our newsletter

Whatever your topic of interest, subscribe to our newsletters to get the best of Drugs.com in your inbox.