GLP-1 Medications and Quitting Smoking
Can weight loss drugs help people quit smoking? Here's what scientists are learning about GLP-1 medicines.
You may have heard about drugs like Ozempic, Wegovy, and Mounjaro. Doctors use these medicines to help people lose weight and manage diabetes. Now scientists are researching if these drugs could also help people quit smoking.
Do GLP-1s like Ozempic help you quit smoking?
Right now, GLP-1 drugs are not approved for helping people quit smoking. Doctors cannot prescribe them just for this purpose. More research is needed first.
However, GLP-1 drugs show promise for helping people quit smoking. These medicines affect the same brain areas that drive nicotine cravings. They also prevent weight gain, which can be a major barrier to quitting.
If you already take one of these drugs for diabetes or weight loss, it might be a good time to try quitting. The drug might make it easier. Talk to your doctor about this.
Early studies show hopeful results, though the evidence is still mixed. Much more evidence is needed before doctors can use these drugs just for quitting smoking. The good news is that scientists are working on this right now.
What are GLP-1s?
GLP-1 refers to glucagon-like peptide-1, a natural gut hormone that regulates blood sugar and appetite. GLP-1 agonist drugs work by copying this hormone that the body already makes. This hormone tells your brain when you feel full after eating.
The medicines help people eat less and lose weight. They also help control blood sugar.
GLP-1 agonist drugs include:
- Semaglutide (Ozempic®, Wegovy®)
- Exenatide (Byetta®)
- Dulaglutide (Trulicity®)
These drugs are slightly different from each other. Some reach more parts of the brain than others. This might matter for quitting smoking.
Why might GLP-1s help with quitting smoking?
The same brain areas that control hunger also control cravings. When you want a cigarette, your brain's reward system is at work. This is the same system that makes you want tasty food.
GLP-1 drugs seem to turn down the volume on these cravings. They affect a brain chemical called dopamine. Dopamine makes you feel good when you do things like eat or smoke. These drugs may reduce how much dopamine your brain releases when you smoke.
In lab studies with animals, rats given these medicines were less interested in nicotine. They didn't work as hard to get it. They also didn't eat more when they stopped getting nicotine. This gives scientists hope that the drugs might help people too.
Weight gain and quitting smoking
GLP-1 drugs could help people quit smoking while also preventing weight gain. This could make quitting easier for many people. Concern about weight gain is a common reason people don't quit smoking. It's also a common reason people start smoking again after they quit.
If you're worried about weight gain when quitting, know that you're not alone. This is a very common concern. But the health benefits of quitting are much bigger than the risks of gaining some weight.
Weight gain after quitting is common
About 8 or 9 out of every 10 people who quit smoking gain some weight after quitting. Most gain 5 to 15 pounds in the first few months. Some people gain more.
Why does weight gain happen after quitting smoking?
Nicotine makes you less hungry. When you stop smoking, your appetite comes back.
People often get cravings for foods high in sugar and fat more after they quit. This is because the brain's reward system is looking for something to replace nicotine.
What does the research on GLP-1 drugs and quitting smoking show?
Scientists have done several studies on this topic. The results have been mixed.
2021 exenatide study
2021 exenatide study
In 2021, researchers tested a GLP-1 drug called exenatide in a small pilot study of 84 people. All the participants smoked and were willing to quit. They also had prediabetes or a body mass index (BMI) of 25 or higher.
Half the study participants got exenatide and the other half got a placebo. A placebo is a harmless, inactive substance that looks like the drug being tested but has no effect. Everyone in the study also got nicotine patches. These are a nicotine replacement therapy.
Exenatide was more effective for quitting smoking than a placebo after six weeks
After six weeks, 46% of people taking exenatide had quit smoking compared to 27% of people taking a placebo.
People taking exenatide also had fewer cravings. They felt less urge to smoke.
And they didn't gain weight. The group taking the placebo gained weight. This resulted in a 5.6-pound difference between the two groups.
Exenatide helped some people more than others
Later analysis found the drug helped some people more than others. It worked best for people who:
- Smoked more than 20 cigarettes a day
- Did not have depression symptoms
2023 dulaglutide study
2023 dulaglutide study
A larger study in 2023 tested a different GLP-1 drug called dulaglutide. This study had 255 participants. All the participants smoked and were willing to quit.
Half the study participants got dulaglutide and the other half got a placebo. Everyone in the study also got varenicline, a quit-smoking medicine.
Dulaglutide was not more effective for quitting smoking than varenicline after 12 weeks
In this study, the GLP-1 drug did not help more people quit. About 63% quit in both groups after 12 weeks. This is actually a very high quit rate. It may have been too high to see a difference between the groups.
But the dulaglutide did help prevent weight gain. People taking dulaglutide lost about 2 pounds. People taking the placebo gained about 4 pounds. The drug also helped keep blood sugar levels healthy.
Many people in the dulaglutide study started smoking again
The dulaglutide study followed people for a whole year. This showed important findings about what happens over time.
After 12 weeks, about 63% were not smoking. But after one year, only 32% were still smoke-free. This happened in both groups. Staying quit is hard, even with good treatment.
The weight benefits went away when people stopped taking dulaglutide
After 12 weeks of treatment, the dulaglutide group weighed less. But the study stopped giving the drug at 12 weeks. By one year, both groups had gained similar amounts of weight.
What this means is that people might need to take these drugs for longer than 12 weeks. The first year after quitting is when weight gain is highest. Future studies should test longer treatment times.
2024 study of health records about semaglutide and quitting smoking
2024 study of health records about semaglutide and quitting smoking
Scientists analyzed health records from over 222,000 people with diabetes who smoked. They compared people taking semaglutide to people taking other diabetes drugs.
People on semaglutide needed fewer prescriptions for quit-smoking medicines. They also had fewer doctor visits about tobacco use.
This is a clue that semaglutide might help with quitting smoking. But it's not proof. Maybe the drug helped them smoke less. Or maybe something else was going on. This is called an "observational study." It shows a pattern but doesn't prove cause and effect.
2025 study of health records about who gets prescribed GLP-1 medications
2025 study of health records about who gets prescribed GLP-1 medications
Recent research found something surprising about who is prescribed GLP-1s. Scientists analyzed the electronic health records of about 60,000 patients at a large health system.
They found that people who smoke are less likely to be prescribed GLP-1 medications than people who don't smoke, even when they meet clinical criteria.
This matters because smoking and obesity together are very harmful. Combined, they raise your risk of heart disease and diabetes more than either one alone. People who smoke and qualify for these drugs might benefit the most from getting them.
2026 study of health records about GLP-1s and risk of substance use disorder
Researchers studied the electronic health records of over 600,000 veterans with diabetes. They found that people who took GLP-1 drugs were less likely to develop addiction to nicotine, alcohol, cannabis, cocaine, and opioids.
For people who already had a substance use disorder, GLP-1 drugs were linked to fewer emergency room visits and fewer hospital stays. They were also less likely to die from a substance-related cause.
Researchers think these drugs may affect the part of the brain that controls cravings. This study is promising, but GLP-1 drugs are not a proven quit smoking treatment yet.
Why did different studies find different results?
There are several possible reasons why one study found the drug helped with quitting and another didn't.
- Different drugs: The studies used different GLP-1 drugs. Exenatide and dulaglutide work in slightly different ways. Research shows that different GLP-1 drugs reach different parts of the brain. This might explain why some work better than others for quitting.
- Different other treatments: The exenatide study used nicotine patches. The dulaglutide study used varenicline. Varenicline is very effective on its own. This might have made it hard to see extra benefit from adding the GLP-1 drug.
- Different types of study participants: The studies had different types of people. The exenatide study only included people who had prediabetes or higher BMIs. The dulaglutide study included more kinds of people.
- Very high quit rates: In the dulaglutide study, quit rates were very high in both groups. This might have hidden any benefit from the drug.
What we still don't know about GLP-1s and quitting smoking
Scientists are still learning about this topic. There are important questions they haven't answered yet.
- Which drug works best? Semaglutide might be the strongest. But it hasn't been tested in a clinical trial for smoking yet. Scientists need to study this directly.
- Who would benefit most? GLP-1s might work better for some people than others. People who smoke a lot and people without depression might get more benefit.
- Do GLP-1s help with withdrawal symptoms? Early research suggests they might help with anxiety, trouble concentrating, and low mood during withdrawal. But more studies are needed.
- Would GLP-1s help people who smoke who do not have diabetes or higher weight? This is not known since most studies so far have focused on people with these conditions.
Studies happening right now
Scientists are working on these questions. Several studies are happening right now, including:
- Testing semaglutide to see if it reduces how much people want to smoke
- Testing how exenatide affects brain activity when people see pictures of cigarettes
- Looking at semaglutide for preventing weight gain after quitting
These studies should give us better answers in the coming years.
What are the best ways to quit smoking?
For now, the best ways to quit smoking are the ones we already know work well.
A combination of three things is proven to be effective to help people quit nicotine: FDA-approved medication, new behavioral skills, and support from other people.
EX Program combines all three for free, 24/7 support to help you quit smoking.
