Weight loss jab may help stop people smoking: study

A new study has found certain popular weight loss medications may significantly reduce a common habit some Australians find hard to give up.

A “promising link” between people using semaglutide - a medication used to treat diabetes - and decreased tobacco use has been discovered.

According to a new study titled “Association of Semaglutide With Tobacco Use Disorder in Patients With Type 2 Diabetes: Target Trial Emulation Using Real-World”, researchers compared more than 220,000 new users of anti-diabetes medications, including close to 6,000 on semaglutide.

Semaglutide medication also includes the brand Ozempic.

The study, which was published in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine, found that over the course of a year those using semaglutide were associated with a “significantly lower risk for medical encounters for tobacco use disorder (TUD) diagnosis” compared with other anti-diabetes medications.

“Semaglutide was associated with reduced smoking cessation medication prescriptions and counselling,” the researchers noted.

“Similar findings were observed in patients with and without a diagnosis of obesity. For most of the group comparisons, the differences occurred within 30 days of prescription initiation.”

A “promising link” between people using semaglutide - a medication used to treat diabetes - and decreased tobacco use has been discovered. Picture: iStock

The researchers also noted that the reasons people might be less likely to seek medical treatment for tobacco use disorder vary widely.

Limitations to the study included documentation bias, residual confounding, missing data on current smoking behaviour, body mass index and medication adherence.

The study found that much more research is needed before using the medication off-label to treat those addicted to smoking.

The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) has found that tobacco use is the leading cause of cancer in Australia, contributing to 44 per cent of cancer burden.

However, there has been a long-term downward trend in tobacco smoking in Australia, with the National Drug Strategy Household Survey (NDSHS) finding the proportion of people aged 14 and over smoking daily more than halved from 24 per cent in 1991 to 8.3 per cent in 2022–2023.

There has also been a significant increase in people choosing to never take up smoking.

Yet the lifetime use of e-cigarettes has increased significantly between 2019 at 11.3 per cent and 2022–2023 at 19.8 per cent.

Over the past few years, the skyrocketing popularity of diabetic drugs has also seen Australians admitted into emergency over their misuse.

Novo Nordisk recently advised Australia’s medicines watchdog Therapeutic Goods Association (TGA) that Ozempic supply will remain limited for the rest of 2024.

According to TGA’s website, they are asking health professionals not to prescribe Ozempic to new patients to conserve supply for patients who are already stabilised on this medicine and who do not have suitable alternatives.

Originally published as Weight loss jab may help stop people smoking: study