Jaap Arriens | Nurphoto | Getty ImagesHeather Le Biller shed 9 pounds within the first week of taking Novo Nordisk 's blockbuster diabetes drug Ozempic – and then even more as she continued treatment. That means it could take years before the Food and Drug Administration and other regulators worldwide approve drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy as addiction treatments. Jerlhag and her colleagues at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden have studied the effect of GLP-1s on addictive behaviors for more than a decade. "The mechanism in the brain that regulates overeating is important in regulating addictive behaviors as well," Leggio told CNBC. Still, NIDA's Leggio advises against using GLP-1s off-label to reduce addictive behaviors, "simply because there's not enough evidence in humans that they work."

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Persons: Jaap Arriens, Heather Le Biller, Ozempic –, Le Biller, they're, Angela Fitch, Brandon Bell, Dr, Lorenzo Leggio, semaglutide, –, Eli Lilly, pharmacologist, Jerlhag, George Frey, NIDA's, Leggio, Steven Batash, Batash, NIDA's Leggio Organizations: Nurphoto, Novo Nordisk, CNBC, Wegovy, Obesity Medicine Association, and Drug Administration, Pharma, National Institute on Drug, University of Gothenburg, Company, Reuters, Brigade, Getty Locations: Riga, Latvia, France, Ozempic, Novo, U.S, Italian, Austin , Texas, Sweden, Provo , Utah, Queens , New York