Ozempic can also help you quit smoking – here’s how

Ozempic can flatten backsides and maybe extinguish them too!

Taking Ozempic or the drug Wegovy may help some smokers kick the habit, a new study suggests.

The study compared the effects of eight antidiabetic medications—including injectable insulin, semaglutide (the active ingredient in Ozempic and Wegovy) and drugs similar to Ozempic—on nicotine addiction. About 28 million American adults smoke cigarettes, the leading cause of lung cancer worldwide.

The researchers tracked nearly 223,000 new users of antidiabetic medications—including about 6,000 semaglutide patients—and noted who sought medical attention for smoking addiction, who were prescribed medication to try to quit smoking, and who received counseling.

Semaglutide was associated with a lower risk of needing help with smoking cravings compared to other antidiabetic treatments, especially insulin.

Semaglutide effects were observed in obese and non-obese smokers. Results were mostly seen within 30 days of starting the semaglutide prescription.

The US Food and Drug Administration approved Ozempic in 2017 to treat type 2 diabetes in adults and Wegovy in 2021 for adult weight loss.

Type 2 diabetes — which affects more than 34 million Americans — occurs when the body doesn’t make enough insulin or doesn’t use insulin well, resulting in high blood sugar.

This new study, conducted by researchers from the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the National Institutes of Health and Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, was published Monday in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

The study authors caution that while their findings are promising, semaglutide should not be used off-label for smoking addiction. Further studies are needed.

Researchers aren’t sure why Ozempic might affect nicotine addiction, but they think it might be the drug interacting with the brain’s reward system.

Research has suggested that Ozempic may also ease alcohol dependence.

The injectable drug – which mimics the GLP-1 hormone the body produces after eating, so users feel fuller for longer – has exploded in popularity in recent years.

A diabetes research pioneer whose work paved the way for Ozempic recently predicted that GLP-1 drugs could help treat addictive behaviors and even Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases.

Novo Nordisk – the Danish pharmaceutical firm that makes Ozempic and Wegovy – said its products should only be used for FDA-approved purposes.

“While our clinical studies were not designed to evaluate the ability of semaglutide in tobacco use disorder or other addiction-related diseases, data from nonclinical, clinical, and postmarketing sources have not shown any evidence indicating a causal relationship between semaglutide and TUD or addiction-related diseases,” the company said in a statement Monday to The Post.