"Just eat less and exercise"<p>My primary doctor's advice 4 years ago.<p>"You lost the genetic lottery and I'm putting you on Ozempic to address your metabolic disorder"<p>My endocrinologist's response 2 years and 50lbs of weight loss ago. Since then every health marker has improved substantially, and with it clarity of thought and energy. Broad insurance coverage for these medications should be a slam dunk for insurers.
<a href="https://usafacts.org/articles/obesity-rate-nearly-triples-united-states-over-last-50-years/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://usafacts.org/articles/obesity-rate-nearly-triples-un...</a><p>so, what the hell happened in the 80s and 90s that caused such a large jump? what changed? Diet sodas? super size me? what caused this?<p>Can we undo this so that we don't need a magic pill?
I wasn’t in horrible shape, but my BMI was juuuuuust high enough to get my insurer to cover Ozempic. I’ve dropped 20+ pounds since June, and am now at my ideal weight, or at least quite close to it. Pretty incredible. I hope that everyone soon gets the same access to these drugs that I’ve been able to enjoy. Seems like it would be a real public health revolution.
I think they are even bigger than you may think.<p>Addictive behavior is <i>dramatically</i> turned down while not affecting normal desires somehow. I've noticed this quite starkly, and my sister as well who tried it (a lifelong nail-biter who's since stopped).<p>It seems to fix my autoimmune condition as well, which is even more crazy. Hand and back pain gone, even the flare ups are largely minimized.<p>Finally, for some reason it fixes my sleep? I was an incredibly light sleeper who couldn't touch coffee because even a morning cup would interrupt my sleep. Now, I can drink coffee until noon and sleep like a baby.<p>Btw tizepatide works way better than semaglutide, in my experience.
GLP-1 receptor agonists are game-changing for weight loss, but there is even broader applicability emerging for _addictions of all kinds_. [1] This is super hopeful both because of the applicability to alcoholism, etc, but also because of how this demonstrates the function of food <i>addiction</i> as a driving factor for weight issues.<p>[1] <a href="https://www.thelancet.com/journals/ebiom/article/PIIS2352-3964(23)00207-4/fulltext" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://www.thelancet.com/journals/ebiom/article/PIIS2352-39...</a>
Nothing in this article talks about the longer-term efficacy of weight loss drugs for the patients. I've heard some anecdotal evidence that they do work, but with some extremely gross side effects (I wouldn't be surprised if these drugs and the Delta diarrhea plane [1] are related).<p>[1] <a href="https://www.cnn.com/travel/delta-flight-diarrhea-biohazard/index.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://www.cnn.com/travel/delta-flight-diarrhea-biohazard/i...</a>
> In the first half of this year, Danish GDP rose at a 1.7 percent annualized rate thanks to the contribution of Novo Nordisk, the drug maker responsible for anti-obesity blockbusters Ozempic and Wegovy. Without soaring production and profits at Novo Nordisk, Danish GDP would have shrunk by 0.3 percent.<p>Incredible.<p>While people are sharing anecdotes, I’ll add mine. My wife went on Wegovy in January — she’s lost over 50 pounds. (Having four kids really does a number on you.) She’s sick less often, she’s stopped complaining about her knees hurting, she’s more active. She looks like a different person!<p>All around, a huge win. I really pray there’s no long-term side-effects lurking for everybody who’s benefiting from these drugs.
Paul Ford was super early to call this out with his use of Mounjaro, & to expand the idea a little more too: that sci fi ideas of self modification in general are kind of arriving. And asking how and where that interacts with our idea of what drugs are; things that merely fix defects versus much more open toolkits. <a href="https://www.wired.com/story/new-drug-switched-off-appetite-mounjaro/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://www.wired.com/story/new-drug-switched-off-appetite-m...</a>
However it is more akin to the modern dystopian sci-fi than the bubbly and optimistic sci-fi of the 60's. The moment you stop taking the drugs you gain the weight back in pretty much a year unless you made significant lifestyle changes, which most don't because you lose so much weight without doing anything [1] So once you are on the dose you are pretty much hooked for life especially once you are over 60. Gaining 30+ lbs in such a short time is a recipe for a short life.<p>It's always sad seeing people who struggle with weight loss due to hormonal issues but I hope patients due their due diligence before going to a doctor for a quick solution that doesn't solve behavior that leads to obesity.<p>[1]<a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9542252/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9542252/</a>
Don't think this would be my first choice:
<a href="https://www.drugs.com/sfx/ozempic-side-effects.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://www.drugs.com/sfx/ozempic-side-effects.html</a>
I'm now reading a book called "Do you believe in magic"/ Paul Offit, it's on topic of alternative medicine.
In 70's there was a very popular (and bogus) cancer cure called Laetrile (Hygrogen Cyanide) that was pushed by some doctors and organizations. Horrible stuff that caused more damage than helped but too many people were trying to sell it as a magic cancer cure. Also there were coffee enemas...<p>My point is, if it's sold like a magic cure it potentially might be a bogus one? How many times humanity won the lottery prize and discovered something revolutionary like penecillin?
I have a tentative vision of a future where people having access to tools like these breaks the incentive for companies to make people addicts. If drugs free them from the tyranny of companies exploiting biological weaknesses to make people addicted to what they sell, people regain agency in so many aspects of their lives. Food, drink, drugs, media consumption, consumerism. There's a glimpse of a power structure being dismantled, and humanity being able to take a collective deep breath and think about what we actually want.
Every psychiatric drug I take contributes to weight gain.<p>And my doc gets so disappointed when I refuse/quit a drug because of shitty side effects like that.<p>Now she's all up in my grill about HBP and obesity, well girl, what did you really expect now?
These GLP-1 drugs are going to have as significant an impact on humanity as antibiotics, and vaccines. History will look back at their invention as one of the key advances in medicine.