Fat jabs like Ozempic could ‘CURE' binge drinking ‘slashing boozing by two thirds'
FAT jabs like Mounjaro and Wegovy could slash boozing by two-thirds, a study has shown.
It's not the first time the weight loss medication has shown promise for helping those with poor drinking habits curb their cravings.
2
The class of GLP-1 medications mimic the action of the natural GLP-1 hormone, which plays a key role in regulating blood sugar levels, appetite, and digestion.
They were initially developed to treat type 2 diabetes but have become a breakthrough in obesity treatment, too.
Now, anecdotally, people have reported that their desire to drink is slashed once they start GLP-1.
The study was led by Professor Carel le Roux, of University College Dublin and presented at this year's European Congress on Obesity (ECO 2025).
Professor Le Roux said: ' GLP-1 analogues have been shown treat obesity and reduce the risk of multiple obesity-related complications.
'Now, the beneficial effects beyond obesity, such as on alcohol intake, are being actively studied, with some promising results.'
The team looked at data on the alcohol intake of patients who were being treated for obesity at a clinic in Dublin.
It involved 262 adults with a BMI of over 27 with an average weight of 15st 6lb/98kg, and average age of 46 years.
They were prescribed either semaglutide (Ozempic, Wegovy) or liraglutide (Saxenda) for weight loss. Mounjaro is the brand name for another medication, tirzepatide.
Thirty-one patients did not drink, 52 rarely drank, and 179 were regular drinkers, based on self reporting.
How to save calories when drinking alcohol
Some 188 of the 262 patients were followed-up for an average of four months. None of them had increased their alcohol intake.
Average alcohol intake decreased from 11.3 units per week to 4.3 units per week after four months of treatment with the GLP-1 meds.
That's the equivalent of drinking almost four large glasses of wine to one and a bit. Or, about six or seven pints of beer to roughly two.
Even more so, among the regular drinkers, intake decreased from 23.2 units per week to 7.8 units.
The reduction of 68 per cent is comparable to that achieved by nalmefene, a drug used to treat alcohol use disorder in Europe, notes Professor le Roux.
He adds: 'The exact mechanism of how GLP-1 analogues reduce alcohol intake is still being investigated but it is thought to involve curbing cravings for alcohol that arise in subcortical areas of the brain that are not under conscious control.
'Thus, patients report the effects are 'effortless'.'
Alcohol use disorder is a relapsing condition that accounts for 2.6 million deaths a year – 4.7 per cent of all deaths globally.
Around one in 20 adults in England are deemed to be heavy drinkers – men who drink more than 50 units a week and women who drink more than 35 units.
Deaths from alcohol use at a record high. More than 8,200 people died because of alcohol in 2023 which is 42 per cent higher than in 2019.
Treatments such as cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), therapies that aim to strengthen motivation to stop or reduce drinking and medication can be very successful in the short-term.
But 70 per cent of patients relapse within the first year, the study authors noted.
Everything you need to know about fat jabs
Weight loss jabs are all the rage as studies and patient stories reveal they help people shed flab at almost unbelievable rates, as well as appearing to reduce the risk of serious diseases.
Wegovy – a modified version of type 2 diabetes drug Ozempic – and Mounjaro are the leading weight loss injections used in the UK.
Wegovy, real name semaglutide, has been used on the NHS for years while Mounjaro (tirzepatide) is a newer and more powerful addition to the market.
Mounjaro accounts for most private prescriptions for weight loss and is set to join Wegovy as an NHS staple this year.
How do they work?
The jabs work by suppressing your appetite, making you eat less so your body burns fat for energy instead and you lose weight.
They do this my mimicking a hormone called GLP-1, which signals to the brain when the stomach is full, so the drugs are officially called GLP-1 receptor agonists.
They slow down digestion and increase insulin production, lowering blood sugar, which is why they were first developed to treat type 2 diabetes in which patients' sugar levels are too high.
Can I get them?
NHS prescriptions of weight loss drugs, mainly Wegovy and an older version called Saxenda (chemical name liraglutide), are controlled through specialist weight loss clinics.
Typically a patient will have to have a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or higher, classifying them as medically obese, and also have a weight-related health condition such as high blood pressure.
GPs generally do not prescribe the drugs for weight loss.
Private prescribers offer the jabs, most commonly Mounjaro, to anyone who is obese (BMI of 30+) or overweight (BMI 25-30) with a weight-related health risk.
Private pharmacies have been rapped for handing them out too easily and video calls or face-to-face appointments are now mandatory to check a patient is being truthful about their size and health.
Are there any risks?
Yes – side effects are common but most are relatively mild.
Around half of people taking the drug experience gut issues, including sickness, bloating, acid reflux, constipation and diarrhoea.
Dr Sarah Jarvis, GP and clinical consultant at patient.info, said: 'One of the more uncommon side effects is severe acute pancreatitis, which is extremely painful and happens to one in 500 people.'
Other uncommon side effects include altered taste, kidney problems, allergic reactions, gallbladder problems and hypoglycemia.
Evidence has so far been inconclusive about whether the injections are damaging to patients' mental health.
Figures obtained by The Sun show that, up to January 2025, 85 patient deaths in the UK were suspected to be linked to the medicines.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
BBC News
an hour ago
- BBC News
Swapped at birth: Why dad never looked like his parents
Matthew's dad had brown eyes and black hair. His grandparents had piercing blue was a running joke in his family that "dad looked nothing like his parents", the teacher from southern England turned out there was a very good reason for father had been swapped at birth in hospital nearly 80 years ago. He died late last year before learning the truth of his family - not his real name - contacted the BBC after we reported on the case of Susan, who received compensation from an NHS trust after a home DNA test revealed she had been accidentally switched for another baby in the News is now aware of five cases of babies swapped by mistake in maternity wards from the late 1940s to the say they expect more people to come forward driven by the increase in cheap genetic testing. 'The old joke might be true after all' During the pandemic, Matthew started looking for answers to niggling questions about his family history. He sent off a saliva sample in the post to be genealogy company entered his record into its vast online database, allowing him to view other users whose DNA closely matched his own."Half of the names I'd just never heard of," he says. "I thought, 'That's weird', and called my wife to tell her the old family joke might be true after all."Matthew then asked his dad to submit his own DNA sample, which confirmed he was even more closely related to the same group of mysterious family started exchanging messages with two women who the site suggested were his father's cousins. All were confused about how they could possibly be together, they eventually tracked down birth records from 1946, months after the end of World War documents showed that one day after his father was apparently born, another baby boy had been registered at the same hospital in east boy had the same relatively unusual surname that appeared on the mystery branch of the family tree, a link later confirmed by birth certificates obtained by was a lightbulb moment."I realised straight away what must have happened," he says. "The only explanation that made sense was that both babies got muddled up in hospital."Matthew and the two women managed to construct a brand new family tree based on all of his DNA matches."I love a puzzle and I love understanding the past," he says. "I'm quite obsessive anyway, so I got into trying to reverse engineer what had happened." An era before wristbands Before World War Two, most babies in the UK were born at home, or in nursing homes, attended by midwives and the family started to change as the country prepared for the launch of the NHS in 1948, and very gradually, more babies were delivered in hospital, where newborns were typically removed for periods to be cared for in nurseries."The baby would be taken away between feeds so that the mother could rest, and the baby could be watched by either a nursery nurse or midwife," says Terri Coates, a retired lecturer in midwifery, and former clinical adviser on BBC series Call The Midwife."It may sound paternalistic, but midwives believed they were looking after mums and babies incredibly well."It was common for new mothers to be kept in hospital for between five and seven days, far longer than identify newborns in the nursery, a card would be tied to the end of the cot with the baby's name, mother's name, the date and time of birth, and the baby's weight."Where cots rather than babies were labelled, accidents could easily happen", says Ms Coates, who trained as a nurse herself in the 1970s and a midwife in 1981."If there were two or more members of staff in the nursery feeding babies, for example, a baby could easily be put down in the wrong cot."By 1956, hospital births were becoming more common, and midwifery textbooks were recommending that a "wrist name-tape" or "string of lettered china beads" should be attached directly to the newborn.A decade later, by the mid-1960s, it was rare for babies to be removed from the delivery room without being individually labelled. Stories of babies being accidentally switched in hospital were very rare at the time, though more are now coming to light thanks to the boom in genetic testing and ancestry day after Jan Daly was born at a hospital in north London in 1951, her mother immediately complained that the baby she had been given was not hers."She was really stressed and crying, but the nurses assured her she was wrong and the doctor was called in to try to calm her," Jan staff only backed down when her mum told them she'd had a fast, unassisted delivery, and pointed out the clear forceps marks on the baby's head"I feel for the other mother who had been happily feeding me for two days and then had to give up one baby for another," she says."There was never any apology, it was just 'one of those silly errors', but the trauma affected my mother for a long time." Never finding out Matthew's father, an insurance agent from the Home Counties, was a keen amateur cyclist who spent his life following the local racing lived alone in retirement and over the last decade his health had been deteriorating. Matthew thought long and hard about telling him the truth about his family history but, in the end, decided against it. "I just felt my dad doesn't need this," he says. "He had lived 78 years in a type of ignorance, so it didn't feel right to share it with him."Matthew's father died last year without ever knowing he'd been celebrating his birthday a day early for the past eight then, Matthew has driven to the West Country to meet his dad's genetic first cousin and her daughter for all got on well, he says, sharing old photos and "filling in missing bits of family history".But Matthew has decided not to contact the man his father must have been swapped with as a baby, or his children – in part because they have not taken DNA tests themselves."If you do a test by sending your saliva off, then there's an implicit understanding that you might find something that's a bit of a surprise," Matthew says."Whereas with people who haven't, I'm still not sure if it's the right thing to reach out to them - I just don't think it's right to drop that bombshell."
Daily Mail
5 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Health Secretary to unveil 'death of the doctor's letter' in digital first switch to help slash NHS postage bills
Ministers will today announce the death of the doctor's letter in a bid to slash NHS postage bills. Health Secretary Wes Streeting will unveil plans to switch to a 'digital first' system, with almost all patient communications made via the NHS app. The move, agreed as part of next week's spending review, will mean most patients will no longer receive letters about appointments, check-ups and screening dates. People unable to use the app will be able to continue receiving a postal service, but only as a 'last resort'. The Department of Health said the move would lead to the NHS sending out 50 million fewer letters a year, saving £200 million on stamps and envelopes. However, critics warned it could disadvantage millions of older people who struggle with the latest technology. Dennis Reed, director of the Silver Voices campaign group, said the move would accelerate the trend towards digital communications that risks turning some older people into 'second class citizens' and could result in vulnerable patients missing appointments. Last night Mr Streeting insisted that 'modernising' communications would 'put power in the hands of patients'. 'People are living increasingly busy lives,' he said, 'and want to access information about their health at the touch of a button, rather than wait weeks for letters that often arrive too late. 'The NHS still spends hundreds of millions of pounds on stamps, printing, and envelopes. By modernising the health service, we can free up huge amounts of funding to reinvest in the frontline.' Health sources said Royal Mail had become so unreliable in parts of the country that some letters didn't arrive until after appointment dates or else people didn't open their post in time. Mr Reed told the Mail: 'Many older people do not have smartphones and many of those that do only use them for making calls. There are still a lot of people who do not know how to use apps or who physically cannot navigate them on a tiny screen. 'If you try to force them to use an app then people will miss messages and vital appointments.' Caroline Abrahams, director of Age Concern, said technology brought 'many potential benefits', but added: 'This is a big risk because millions [of older people] do not use computers at all, or only do so for limited purposes. 'If the NHS app is to become the default, then this major change must be accompanied by many more opportunities to help people of all ages to go online if they wish to do so.'
Daily Mail
6 hours ago
- Daily Mail
A-ha frontman Morten Harket, 65, diagnosed with Parkinson's disease and doesn't know if he can sing anymore as band writes 'he has been battling his own body' in recent years
A-ha frontman Morten Harket has revealed he has Parkinson's disease. Parkinson's is a progressive brain disorder caused by the death of nerve cells in the brain that produce dopamine. In a statement on the band's website, Morten, 65, said he had undergone several rounds of brain surgery and that he was managing the symptoms of the disease, but admitted he had been 'battling his own body' in recent years. It read: 'This isn't the sort of news anyone wants to deliver to the world, but here it is: Morten has Parkinson's disease.' Morten also said he had initially kept the degenerative condition private but has now decided to tell fans and didn't know if he could sing or even perform again. He said: 'I've got no problem accepting the diagnosis. With time I've taken to heart my 94-year-old father's attitude to the way the organism gradually surrenders: "I use whatever works" From A-list scandals and red carpet mishaps to exclusive pictures and viral moments, subscribe to the Daily Mail's new showbiz newsletter to stay in the loop. 'Part of me wanted to reveal it. Like I said, acknowledging the diagnosis wasn't a problem for me; it's my need for peace and quiet to work that has been stopping me. 'I'm trying the best I can to prevent my entire system from going into decline. 'It's a difficult balancing act between taking the medication and managing its side effects. 'There's so much to weigh up when you're emulating the masterful way the body handles every complex movement, or social matters and invitations, or day-to-day life in general.' He told the band's biographer Jan Omdahl that he has been making the most of advanced technology in treating the disease and has been using a method called deep brain stimulation. His neurologist in Norway is Dr Christina Sundal at NeuroClinic Norway, and she was previously a research fellow with the Parkinson's team at the Mayo Clinic. He revealed he underwent a neurosurgical procedure called deep brain stimulation (DBS) in June 2024 in which electrodes were implanted into the left side of his brain and he responded well and many of his physical symptoms practically vanished. In December 2024 he underwent a similar procedure on the right side of his brain, which was also successful. His voice has changed with Parkinson's and told Jan: The problems with my voice are one of many grounds for uncertainty about my creative future.' He said: 'I don't really know [if I can sing anymore]. I don't feel like singing, and for me that's a sign. I'm broadminded in terms of what I think works; I don't expect to be able to achieve full technical control. 'The question is whether I can express myself with my voice. As things stand now, that's out of the question. But I don't know whether I'll be able to manage it at some point in the future.' Morten urged fans not to worry, telling them he is now 'going to listen to the professionals'. 'Spend your effort addressing real problems,' he said, 'and know that I am being taken care of. 'Be good servants to nature, the very basis of our existence, and care for the environment while it is still possible to do so. 'Don't worry about me. Find out who you want to be - a process than can be new each and every day.' The singer too revealed that he has been writing lyrics since his diagnosis, but that he's 'not sure' if he'll be able to finish and release them. Parkinson's can affect those diagnosed both physically and mentally. It primarily causes trouble to the brain, parts of which become progressively damaged over years with the disease. It usually affects those over 50, with a number of celebrities ultimately suffering with the disease in the past. Ozzy Osborne, Neil Diamond and Billy Connolly are all currently living with Parkinson's while Muhammad Ali was famously diagnosed just three years after the end of his illustrious boxing career. Doctors said of the heavyweight's illness following his 2016 death: 'Muhammad Ali's disease course, from his late 30s until his death at age 74 years, was chronic and progressive. 'He manifested fatigue hypophonia, bradykinesia, and a masked face, as well as many of the visible motor symptoms of Parkinons's disease.' As evidenced in the Ali case, the disease can in rare cases affect those under the age of 40. Famous US actor Michael J. Fox, 63, was diagnosed at just 29 years old in 1991. The Back To The Future star has spent much of the last 25 years trying to advance scientific research into the disease with his charity, The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research. Formed in 1982 by Harket and his friends Paul Waaktaar-Savoy and Magne Furuholmen, A-ha saw a global breakthrough in 1985 with their debut album Hunting High and Low which yielded several hits such as Take On Me and The Sun Always Shines on TV. Take On Me was recently featured in the second season of HBO's hit series The Last of Us when the main character Ellie, played by Bella Ramsey, performed an acoustic version of the song. While world-renowned for their success in the 1980s, A-ha continued to release music throughout the 2000s with their latest work including albums such as Memorial Beach, Lifelines and Cast in Steel. Morten has six children, three with his former wife Camilla Malmquist Harket, a daughter with former girlfriend Anne Mette Undlien and another daughter with current partner Inez Andersson.
