The popular class of weight loss drugs known as GLP-1s have shown to be effective in curbing cravings beyond food. A few early studies have suggested that GLP-1 medications can do a lot to alleviate not just food cravings, but all kinds of addiction.

“Alcoholism, and drug addiction, is like a record playing in your mind,” said Dr. Steven Klein, a physician at the nonprofit Caron Treatment Centers in Providence. “What these medications do is lift the needle off that record long enough that we can teach you another song.”

Health reporter Chris Serres explains to me the promise of these medications, and why their potential as a ‘miracle drug’ for addiction has only recently been discovered.

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