Bill Wilson explores whether GLP-1 drugs might treat addictions beyond food. He suggests that carb cravings amplify cravings for gambling, nicotine, alcohol, and drugs, and that GLP-1s appear to blunt these effects, though the exact brain mechanism is still unclear.
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Is that a mental issue versus lack of insulin? I'm saying that because some of the new indications are saying that it could potentially also be a treatment for addiction. People who have an addictive personality to gambling, to different things, to drugs, could potentially GLP1s could be useful for them. What's your thoughts on that?
Part of carb syndrome is craving not just sweet and starchy food, but also nicotine, alcohol, drugs, and increases the tendency to crave those things. It's not necessarily the cause, but it magnifies them, if you will. So these drugs do seem to blunt that effect. We're not exactly sure why. Again, most of the things that these drugs do in the brain, we haven't figured out the biology. We just know it's kind of the black box. You put an A and you get B.