Could GLP-1s help curb the opioid crisis?

The University of Cincinnati's John Winhusen was featured in a Rolling Stone article discussing the potential for GLP-1s to treat substance abuse disorders.

There are three main medications used to treat substance abuse disorder, but stigma and other barriers can prevent patients from accessing the care they need. 

"If people can’t access treatment, we’re definitely going to see an increase in overdose deaths," Winhusen, PhD, principal investigator and lead author, director of the UC /UC Health Addiction Center, Donald C. Harrison endowed chair in medicine, vice chair of addiction sciences and professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience in UC’s College of Medicine, told Rolling Stone.

GLP-1s are designed to activate the pancreas to release more insulin, controlling peoples' appetites and leaving them feeling fuller longer. But researchers have also found the medications can interact with neural reward networks in the brain, with the potential to reduce cravings.

Winhusen is leading one of the largest trials in the country pairing GLP-1s with buprenorphine, one of the currently approved treatments for substance abuse disorder.

"One of the biggest challenges in treating opioid use disorder is actually keeping people in treatment long enough for them to benefit from it,” Winhusen said. He hopes the addition of GLP-1s can keep patients from walking away from treatment.

Read the Rolling Stone article.

Read the article for free on Yahoo News.

Featured image at top: Weight loss drug injection pens and a measuring tape. Photo/iStock/Alones Creative.