VA Launches Nationwide Trial Of GLP-1 Drug For Problem Drinking

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has started a large medical study to find out if a diabetes drug can help veterans drink less alcohol. The drug is called semaglutide, and it is already used by millions of people to treat diabetes and obesity. Scientists think it might change the way the brain feels reward, which could help people drink less. The study is taking place at 18 VA medical centers across the country, from Seattle, Washington, to Orlando, Florida.

More than 400,000 veterans have been diagnosed with alcohol use disorder, also called AUD. AUD is a medical condition where a person has trouble controlling how much alcohol they drink. It can cause serious health problems and make daily life much harder. Some experts think that nearly 11 percent of all U.S. adults are affected by it in some way.

Finding good treatments for AUD has been a challenge for a long time. No new medicine for the condition has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in almost 20 years. The most common drug used today, called naltrexone, only works fairly well for some people. Fewer than 2 percent of people with AUD take any medicine for it in a given year.

The VA itself faces a big treatment gap. Even though the VA says medicine is one of the best ways to treat AUD, only about 40,000 of the 400,000 diagnosed veterans are actually getting that treatment. That means most veterans with the condition are not receiving the help available to them. This gap is one key reason researchers decided to test a new option.

Scientists became interested in semaglutide after early research showed hopeful results. A study in the British Medical Journal found that people taking GLP-1 drugs had lower rates of AUD and other substance use problems. People with substance use disorders who used these drugs also had fewer emergency room visits and hospital stays. These findings gave researchers enough reason to run a controlled trial.

The study is called CRAVE, which stands for Cessation or Reduction of Alcohol Consumption in Veterans. More than 600 veterans between ages 18 and 80 with moderate or severe AUD will take part. Each person will get a weekly injection of either semaglutide or a placebo — a shot that looks real but has no medicine in it. The shots will continue for about 24 weeks, followed by a safety check-up.

Researchers will track how much each person drinks, how healthy they feel, and their overall quality of life. By comparing the two groups, scientists can learn whether the drug truly makes a difference. VA Secretary Doug Collins said the study shows what the VA does best, adding that it is "aimed directly at benefitting veterans." If semaglutide works, it could become the first major new AUD treatment approved in nearly 20 years.