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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

#101

Post by jobs_throwaway »

fnordpiglet wrote: post #93
jobs_throwaway wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Helping obese people lose weight is unidimensionally a good thing

Obese doesn’t mean unhealthy. Correlation isn’t causation. There are many obese people who are extremely healthy. I for one have had no health issues of any sort, have great blood panels, and am in decent physical condition but sit stubbornly at a 31BMI. The only “issue” I face is psychological, and it’s rooted in precisely this statement you made.

> There are many obese people who are extremely healthy

I don't believe that's true. There are some cases (like powerlifters) who can be at an obese BMI but still have strong cardiovascular fitness, but unless you are in that narrow category, if you are obese you do not have strong aerobic fitness. 'Decent physical condition' alone belies that you are not 'extremely' healthy. Decently healthy maybe, but certainly not extremely. Even if you are still metabolically healthy, you are at increased risk for adverse long-term outcomes (source: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24297192/). That is more than just a psychological issue, no matter how much you try to handwave it away.

Re: ‘Breakthrough’ obesity drugs that have stunned researchers

#102

Post by jobs_throwaway »

abeppu wrote: post #83
jobs_throwaway wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Helping obese people lose weight is unidimensionally a good thing

The article specifically points out that the link between weight and health on its own is in question: > Some researchers also worry that by offering a weight solution in societies that prize thinness, these drugs could also inadvertently reinforce the disputed link between excess weight and health. One study found that nearly 30% of people who are considered obese are metabolically healthy. The abstract from that ar…

Metabolic health =/= health. Obese people who are metabolically healthy are still at increased risk for adverse long-term outcomes (like heart attack) - source: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24297192/. Obese people are 96% more likely to have heart failure - source: https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/317546

Sure, I'll grant that BMI is not the end all be all metric of health, but its a hell of a strong indicator, and pretending that its okay for your health to be obese is farcical.

Re: ‘Breakthrough’ obesity drugs that have stunned researchers

#103

Post by rhino369 »

thefz wrote: post #85
rhino369 wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The amount of calories to add an extra 50 lbs isn't that crazy. It's around 300 calories a day. So more like 1 *slice* of pizza extra. That is why weight loss is hard to achieve. If you are hungry, it's hard to--over an entire day--avoid eating 300 extra calories.

... nah. 1Kg of human fat is around 8000kcals give or take. 50lbs is 22Kg. 176000kcal. It's 586x "extra slices of pizza", almost two years of overeating every day.

That's exactly what I said. 300 cals indefinitely. I obviously didn't mean you eat one slice of pizza and gain 50lbs.

It's easy to say "put down the pizza," but pizza is just an example.

300 calories is also 1/4 a cup of rice (50 cals), 1/3 service of chicken (100 cals) an egg (78 cals), a teaspoon of olive oil (40 cals), and a toast (75 cals).

There are lot of reasons its hard to cut weight. Measuring calorie intake to 300 calories is hard enough. But also, its easy to eat a bit more at each meal if you are hungry (and it adds up).

Re: ‘Breakthrough’ obesity drugs that have stunned researchers

#104

Post by spillguard »

Am4TIfIsER0ppos wrote: post #99
0xB31B1B wrote: post #21

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…

[flagged]

> "I don't think it's healthy for a society to rely on large pharmaceutical companies."

Fixed it for you. There were so many kind ways that you could have phrased your statement; please avoid inflammatory comments.

Re: ‘Breakthrough’ obesity drugs that have stunned researchers

#105

Post by [deleted] »

fnordpiglet wrote: post #93
jobs_throwaway wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Helping obese people lose weight is unidimensionally a good thing

Obese doesn’t mean unhealthy. Correlation isn’t causation. There are many obese people who are extremely healthy. I for one have had no health issues of any sort, have great blood panels, and am in decent physical condition but sit stubbornly at a 31BMI. The only “issue” I face is psychological, and it’s rooted in precisely this statement you made.

[deleted]

Re: ‘Breakthrough’ obesity drugs that have stunned researchers

#106

Post by dang »

Recent and related:

The FDA will likely approve the diabetes drug tirzepatide for weight loss - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34220996 - Jan 2023 (100 comments)

Tirzepatide delivered up to 22.5% weight loss in obese or overweight adults - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33221121 - Oct 2022 (21 comments)

Re: ‘Breakthrough’ obesity drugs that have stunned researchers

#107

Post by voisin »

hammock wrote: post #66
0xB31B1B wrote: post #21

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…

For those less familiar with BMI, each point of BMI for a man is about 7 pounds. So 34-->23 BMI = -77 lbs. 31-->26 BMI = -35 lbs

It depends on height, so how can you say that?

Re: ‘Breakthrough’ obesity drugs that have stunned researchers

#108

Post by EamonnMR »

rajin444 wrote: post #56

This drug is a net good for society, but we have to fix the root problem. Much of the food we eat is filled with addictive ingredients (sugar, excess fats/oils, etc) that provide little nutritional value but are highly addictive. We’re subsidizing companies that create unhealthy addictive food and subsidizing companies to create drugs to counter the unhealthy addictive food. This is an enormous waste of resources.

If we're going to treat calories as addictive and addiction as a disease rather than a personal failing it should follow that we treat the disease with a drug.

Re: ‘Breakthrough’ obesity drugs that have stunned researchers

#110

Post by nindalf »

voisin wrote: post #107
hammock wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For those less familiar with BMI, each point of BMI for a man is about 7 pounds. So 34-->23 BMI = -77 lbs. 31-->26 BMI = -35 lbs

It depends on height, so how can you say that?

It’s an approximation
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