News and Research: "Too Much Cocaine"
“Why does Ozmepic Cure All Diseases?”
Scott Alexander wrote a great post on GLP-1 mechanisms and directed folks to our comprehensive review of GLP-1s for addiction. Speaking of which…
GLP-1 for Addiction: the Medical Evidence for Opioid, Nicotine, and Alcohol Use Disorder
A reminder that this article is regularly updated as new studies are published. It’s the most comprehensive and up-to-date review of the human studies and strategic advantages of GLP-1RAs for addiction.
Liraglutide Reduces Brain Shrinkage in Alzheimer’s Patients
A randomized controlled trial adding to the evidence that GLP-1s are broadly neuroprotective: “Liraglutide appears to reduce shrinking in the parts of the brain that control memory, learning, language and decision making by nearly 50% compared to placebo.” Liraglutide also reduced cognitive decline by 18%. Novo Nordisk is currently running a phase 3 trial on semaglutide for Alzheimer’s disease.
Success in reducing dementia adds to evidence that GLP-1RAs can provide holistic health benefits to addiction patients. It’s far easier to convince people to begin treatment for addiction (or any other condition) if you are able to offer a range of positive benefits.
The longstanding belief that people with substance use disorders are uninformed about addiction medication and simply aren’t interested in treatment is inaccurate. Particularly for opioid addiction, candidates for MOUD are typically highly informed or experienced regarding the side effects, difficulty of adherence, and logistical complications of beginning buprenorphine or methadone– either they’ve tried them before or have close friends who have. More appealing medications will drive more adoption.
“Columbia Faces a New Problem: Too Much Cocaine”
Another in an endless stream of reminders that addiction will never be solved by reducing supply. Does that mean fentanyl and heroin and cocaine should be legal? No – enforcement does increase street prices, limits access to some extent, and prevents some people from getting started into addiction. But it comes at a tremendous cost when done punitively. The consequences of the drug war have been devastating for countries around the world, including ours, and policing has never come close to fixing the problem of addiction. We can only solve this public health crisis by reducing demand– and that means curing addiction. There’s no medical or biological reason we can’t accomplish that.
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