Weight loss drugs are being assessed for their ability to treat conditions like dementia and addiction after a landmark study showed that Wegovy helped reduce the risk of heart attacks and strokes. Late-stage trial data released last month by Novo Nordisk indicated that its Wegovy weight loss injection led to "large reductions" in heart failure-related symptoms among at-risk patients. A treatment for drug and alcohol abuseHendershot is one researcher investigating whether the appetite-regulating mechanisms at play in weight loss drugs could be used to treat other conditions such as alcohol and drug addiction. Novo Nordisk's Wegovy and Eli Lilly 's Mounjaro work by imitating a naturally occurring gut hormone that helps regulate appetite in the brain, ultimately leading to weight loss. Implications for reward signalingAdditional possible use cases for weight loss drugs could exacerbate the hurdles already faced by patients using them, however: high costs and supply shortages.

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Persons: Wegovy, —, Hendershot, Nordisk's Wegovy, Eli Lilly, Kyle Simmons, Simmons, Ivan Koychev, Harshal Deshmukh Organizations: Bloomberg, Getty, Novo Nordisk, University of North, Chapel Hill, CNBC, Nordisk's, Oklahoma State, Oklahoma State University, University of Baltimore, University of Oxford, University of Hull Locations: Danish, University of North Carolina, Chapel