But experts emphasize that much more research is needed before using the medications off-label for smoking cessation. In a study published Monday in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine, researchers tracked the medical records of more than 200,000 people who started medications to treat type 2 diabetes, including nearly 6,000 people using semaglutide medications such as Ozempic. Over the course of a year, people who started using semaglutide were significantly less likely to have medical encounters for tobacco use disorders, prescriptions for medications for smoking cessation or counseling for smoking cessation than those who started other diabetes medications such as insulin and metformin. “A signal like this one cannot be ignored, particularly because of how consequential it could be if, in fact, we can have now a new medication for treating smoking cessation,” she said. But fewer than 1 in 10 adult cigarette smokers succeed in quitting each year, according to the new study, and options for smoking cessation treatment haven’t changed much in decades.

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Persons: Disha, ”, Nora Volkow, ” Volkow, Dr, Sanjay Gupta, Volkow Organizations: CNN, Internal Medicine, Endeavor Health, National Institute on Drug, Get CNN, CNN Health, US Centers for Disease Control, American Cancer Society Locations: Chicago, United States