With GLP-1 drugs becoming more accessible and affordable, they could also be within reach for substance use treatment.

A patient of mine, a veteran who had tried to quit smoking for over a decade, told me that after he started a GLP-1 drug for his diabetes, he lost interest in cigarettes. He didn’t use a patch. He didn’t set a quit date. He simply lost interest. It happened without effort.

Another patient on one of these drugs for weight loss told me that alcohol had lost its pull – after years of failed attempts to quit.

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Originally published on theconversation.com, part of the BLOX Digital Content Exchange.