Weight Loss Drug Customers Are Giving Up Their Vices

It’s not solely meals CEOs who want to fret about their backside traces because of in-demand weight reduction medicine like Ozempic. Massive Tobacco and Alcohol have purpose to worry, too.

A brand new report from Morgan Stanley finds that individuals utilizing GLP-1 medicine — amongst them Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro, and Zepbound — cut back their consumption of tobacco and alcohol whereas taking the medicines. GLP-1s are a category of diabetes and weight reduction medicine which have not too long ago caught fireplace (and blown up gross sales numbers) for his or her means to suppress a consumer’s urge for food.

The funding financial institution additionally surveyed about 300 GLP-1 customers about their consumption habits whereas taking the treatment. Analysts on the financial institution have beforehand cautioned that the rising use of GLP-1s will put some longterm stress on quick meals gross sales, as customers have reported spending much less cash at eating places. However their survey additionally finds that customers are lowering their consumption of tobacco and alcohol.

Might weight reduction medicine assist customers smoke or drink much less?

Whereas 40% of survey respondents stated they smoked cigarettes no less than weekly earlier than beginning a GLP-1 therapy, that quantity fell to 24% after they began the therapy. In the meantime, weekly e-cigarette utilization dropped from 30% of respondents to 16% after they began taking a GLP-1.

Morgan Stanley discovered related outcomes when it requested respondents about their use of alcohol. About 56-62% of alcohol shoppers on GLP-1s reported ingesting much less alcohol since beginning the medicines, with about 14-18% slicing their alcohol consumption solely.

The analysts famous they have been “cautious about drawing conclusions” from their survey concerning the impression of GLP-1 medicine on addictive behaviors. However there was anecdotal proof from sufferers and well being care suppliers that implies GLP-1s may also help customers curb their addictions to alcohol and tobacco. Whereas analysis hasn’t but confirmed a causal hyperlink between the 2, medical trials are presently underway to raised perceive the consequences of GLP-1’s on alcohol and tobacco consumption.

As well as, Morgan Stanley anticipates the GLP-1 frenzy isn’t slowing anytime quickly. international marketplace for GLP-1 medicine will attain $105 billion by 2030. It additionally tasks these medicine will probably be adopted by about 31.5 million folks within the U.S. (or about 9% of the nation’s inhabitants) by 2035.

This text initially appeared on Quartz.