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‘Breakthrough’ obesity drugs that have stunned researchers

nature.com

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Re: ‘Breakthrough’ obesity drugs that have stunned researchers

#21

Post by 0xB31B1B »

I’m currently taking one of these drugs and it has been no less than a miracle in my life. I became obese when I was around 5, topping out around a 34 BMI. When I was 20 I lost a substantial amount of weight the old fashioned way (diet and exercise), and within 8 months I was BMI 23. Losing weight was extremely challenging and socially isolating.

7 years later, I had a bad ankle injury and regained weight to about 29 BMI. This time I lost weight by doing an “eat every other day” diet. This was also extremely challenging, but easier than just counting calories and working out. After Covid and a lack of exercise I was back to BMI 30. I started taking tirzeparide this summer and have gone from BMI 31 to BMI 26 and still dropping. This is by far the easiest way to lose weight. The side effects for the first 3 months are quite bad, and include off and on strong nausea, extreme fatigue, brain fog, and constipation. I was eating <1k calories per day for a long time and feeling full. I expect to be on this drug long term. My blood work shows extreme improvements in cholesterol, BP, and other key health indicators. I believe that everyone, even the skinny folks, should be on GLP1 drugs for the longevity effects. They changed they induce in diet reduce the oxidative stress on the human body, even if the person is already thin.

Re: ‘Breakthrough’ obesity drugs that have stunned researchers

#22

Post by ceejayoz »

PuppyTailWags wrote: post #16

Have we actually studied if the weight loss is resulting in better health outcomes for the people in question? Outside of diabetics (there is evidence that significant weight loss can relieve the effects of type 2 diabetes), I would like to know if just weight loss benefits the cardiovascular system, blood pressure, etc. These aren't as intuitive as we'd like, for example, it turns out that low fat diets didn't make…

My wife lost a hundred pounds via bariatric surgery; resting heart rate dropped by 20, cholesterol dropped into normal range, knee and hip pain disappeared, and it even helped the chronic migraine substantially.

We've got plenty of clear evidence that being significantly overweight has health impacts.

Re: ‘Breakthrough’ obesity drugs that have stunned researchers

#23

Post by the_only_law »

jobs_throwaway wrote: post #15
ethanbond wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because this isn't an article about biology, it's about health, and health isn't unidimensional

Helping obese people lose weight is unidimensionally a good thing

Let’s give them all meth. That should help with weight loss.

Re: ‘Breakthrough’ obesity drugs that have stunned researchers

#24

Post by xkbarkar »

carrotcarrot wrote: post #12
jobs_throwaway wrote: post #6

Jesus christ, why is nature quoting a psychologist in an article about biology? > However, some researchers worry that these drugs play into some societies’ obsession with being thin. Body size isn’t always a good predictor of health. “I’m really hesitant to be excited about something that I think is potentially harmful from a weight stigma perspective”

A professor I follow once said Nature isn't as prestigious as people think, they just publish such a high volume that people have gotten that impression

I subscribed to Nature for a couple of years and although I am not a proper academic and maybe not the best judge, the articles in Nature sometime looks like they belong on vox.com or wired and not in a scientific paper.

As in opinions presented as evidence, from an almost random person, without actually providing any.

Especially around social subjects like the BLM protests.

One thing I loved about 60 minutes back in the day, was their ability to present a story from multiple points of views.

When I started reading Nature at my former employers, many many years ago, I felt their articles were like that.

At some point it started to look like cherrypicking a single viewpoint, often with obvious political taint.

Maybe it was always like that and I just used to idolize it.

I still very much love the magazine though but stopped subscribing. Its really expensive.

When I get my hands on a copy these days I just filter what I perceive as woke crap from the rest and skip those articles.

I wonder if that is such a good thing… Edit: typo and context

Re: ‘Breakthrough’ obesity drugs that have stunned researchers

#25

Post by ceejayoz »

iammjm wrote: post #20

At a risk of being ignorant: Isn’t obesity a function of calories intake and calories burn rate? If so, why do we even need a drug for that? What should a possible drug target here? Assuming no changes in behaviour and thus a continued steady daily caloric surplus, would it even work?

> Isn’t obesity a function of calories intake and calories burn rate? If so, why do we even need a drug for that?

Because calorie intake is substantially impacted by things like satiety. As the article's subtitle heavily hints at, "A class of drugs that quash hunger" is beneficial in moving that bit of the equation.

Re: ‘Breakthrough’ obesity drugs that have stunned researchers

#26

Post by starkd »

iammjm wrote: post #20

At a risk of being ignorant: Isn’t obesity a function of calories intake and calories burn rate? If so, why do we even need a drug for that? What should a possible drug target here? Assuming no changes in behaviour and thus a continued steady daily caloric surplus, would it even work?

By using drugs that manipulate specific hormones to alter a person's appetite. So you consume less calories.

Re: ‘Breakthrough’ obesity drugs that have stunned researchers

#27

Post by 0xB31B1B »

iammjm wrote: post #20

At a risk of being ignorant: Isn’t obesity a function of calories intake and calories burn rate? If so, why do we even need a drug for that? What should a possible drug target here? Assuming no changes in behaviour and thus a continued steady daily caloric surplus, would it even work?

These drugs modulate your hormones to reduce appetite and cravings for unhealthy foods. When people lose weight the normal way, their endocrine system sends out a “you are starving, eat” hormone response that is extremely difficult to overcome and success requires 100% compliance for the rest of your life.

Re: ‘Breakthrough’ obesity drugs that have stunned researchers

#28

Post by awillen »

iammjm wrote: post #20

At a risk of being ignorant: Isn’t obesity a function of calories intake and calories burn rate? If so, why do we even need a drug for that? What should a possible drug target here? Assuming no changes in behaviour and thus a continued steady daily caloric surplus, would it even work?

Because many people just aren't able to get that ratio to a point that they're at a healthy weight (for numerous reasons - behavioral, medical, etc.).

"Assuming no changes in behavior" doesn't make sense, because the drug makes people feel full after a smaller amount of calories and thus changes behavior.

Re: ‘Breakthrough’ obesity drugs that have stunned researchers

#30

Post by randomdata »

iammjm wrote: post #20

At a risk of being ignorant: Isn’t obesity a function of calories intake and calories burn rate? If so, why do we even need a drug for that? What should a possible drug target here? Assuming no changes in behaviour and thus a continued steady daily caloric surplus, would it even work?

> Isn’t obesity a function of calories intake and calories burn rate?

In the same way that the economy is a function of people trading things, sure. Why do we even need economic policy?

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