What Next TBD: Can Ozempic Cure Addiction?

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Slate

Society & Culture, Technology, History

4.6 • 636 Ratings

🗓️ 25 June 2023

⏱️ 30 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Semaglutide, better known by its brand name Ozempic, has been making headlines as a weight loss drug – despite only having FDA approval to treat diabetes. Now, some say it doesn’t just quell cravings for food – it helps quiet cravings for alcohol, drugs, and other compulsive behaviors. For years, researchers have been studying semaglutide's effectiveness as an addiction cure in animals. What have they found? And – does it actually work? Guest: Sarah Zhang covers health and medicine for The Atlantic If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus. Slate Plus members get benefits like zero ads on any Slate podcast, bonus episodes of shows like Slow Burn and Amicus—and you’ll be supporting the work we do here on What Next TBD. Sign up now at slate.com/whatnextplus to help support our work. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	I made you think you was real.
0:02.0	My name is Caden Sinclair.
0:04.0	Some people call us American royalty.
0:06.0	We were Liars.
0:08.0	A new series on Prime Video.
0:10.0	We were happy. We wanted for nothing.
0:12.0	Based on the best-selling novel.
0:15.0	Something terrible happened last summer,
0:17.0	and I have no memory of what or who hurt me.
0:20.0	No one in my family will tell me.
0:22.7	When you're left for dead, you want answers. We were liars. New series, watch now, only on Prime Video.
0:33.7	When I got Sarah Zang on the line, I asked her to tell me the story of Victoria Rutledge.
0:39.8	Yeah, so Victoria is someone who has always thought of herself as someone with an addictive personality.
0:45.9	Sarah covers science and medicine for the Atlantic.
0:49.3	You know, the example she gave me is that she had been addicted to alcohol when she was younger and she had gotten sober, but sort of had kind of replaced her addiction to alcohol with food and shopping.
1:01.5	Like she told me that she would spend something like $500 on groceries every two weeks.
1:06.9	Victoria would buy so much food that it would rot in her fridge.
1:10.6	If she went to Target to run an errand, she'd find herself compulsively buying one thing after another, unable to stop.
1:18.0	Just like start throwing candles or like makeup or skincare into her car, even though she didn't really need it.
1:23.6	But she just, she saw it. She just like really needed to do that.
1:27.4	Then a few months ago,
1:29.1	Victoria started taking semi-glutide for weight loss. That's the medication sold under the brand
	...

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