Half of US hospitals ended 2022 with negative margins. Learn 6 statistics on the cost of medical care for ASC leaders & how states are capping patients out-of-pocket costs.
anymore. it s very, very strange. very strange. reporter: ferguson is one of many patients taking ozempic who also lost in tr in addictive behaviors. patients most commonly report an effect on alcohol use. it may be because the drugs in a class known as glp 1s have an effect in the gut but also in the brain. it s something being studied at the national institutes of health. researchers just published a paper showing the active ingredient in ozempic reduced what they called binge-like alcohol drinking in rodents. we believe that at least one of the mechanisms is how this drug reduce alcohol drinking is by reducing the rewarded effects applicable such as doses related to a neurotransmitter in our brain which is dopamine. so this medication is likely to make alcohol less rewarding. reporter: it s not just alcohol and nicotine. patients have even told the
vaping, so i may as well just put this into the battery bin at work and i ll see how long i can go without it. and that was 54 days ago. reporter: ferguson started using ozempic 11 weeks ago to combat weight gained during the pandemic that she says was increasing her risk of diabetes. a smoker for much of her life, ferguson switched to vaping last july. but after starting ozempic she says something changed. it s like someone s just come along and switched a light on and you can see the room for what it is. and all of these vapes and cigarettes you ve had over the years, it just they don t look attractive anymore. it s very, very strange. very strange. reporter: ferguson is one of many patients taking drugs like ozempic for weight loss who say they ve also lost interest in some addictive behaviors. doctors told cnn that patients most commonly report an effect on alcohol use. it may be because these drugs in a class known as glp-1s have an
effect not just in the gut but also in the brain. it s something being studied at the national health. a researcher showed semaglutide reduced binge-like alcohol drinking in rodents. we believe at least one of the mechanisms of how this drug reduces alcohol drinking is by reducing the rewarding effects of alcohol such as those related to a neurotransmitter in our brain which is dopamine, so these medications are likely to make alcohol less rewarding. reporter: it s not just alcohol and nicotine. patients have even told the atlantic it had effects on nail-biting and online shopping. there is a lot of overlap on the mechanism that regulates addictive behaviors in general, so it s possible that medications like semaglutide by