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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

#201

Post by nathas »

viro wrote: post #190
bioemerl wrote: post #182

> In the past, scientists and the public often thought that those with obesity simply lacked the willpower to lose weight. But evidence is growing that most people’s bodies have a natural size that can be hard to change. In the context where we have gone from obesity rates of 13 percent to 40, to suggest that people have a natural weight and that's the cause of this seems absurd to me.

And it makes more logical sense to you that everyone is just weak-willed?

How many times do you check HN each day instead of doing work?

Re: ‘Breakthrough’ obesity drugs that have stunned researchers

#202

Post by mensetmanusman »

kenjackson wrote: post #133
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.

Isn't all food addictive? Is there something more specific you mean about addition when it comes to these foods? It seems like it may be more about caloric density than addiction.

No, try the potato only diet and see what happens.

Re: ‘Breakthrough’ obesity drugs that have stunned researchers

#204

Post by bioemerl »

viro wrote: post #190
bioemerl wrote: post #182

> In the past, scientists and the public often thought that those with obesity simply lacked the willpower to lose weight. But evidence is growing that most people’s bodies have a natural size that can be hard to change. In the context where we have gone from obesity rates of 13 percent to 40, to suggest that people have a natural weight and that's the cause of this seems absurd to me.

And it makes more logical sense to you that everyone is just weak-willed?

It makes more sense to point to the fact that we have a far more calorie dense meal palette and a far less active lifestyle.

Re: ‘Breakthrough’ obesity drugs that have stunned researchers

#205

Post by ceejayoz »

jboy55 wrote: post #171
Beaver117 wrote: post #87

So does this somehow burn fat or does it just lower your appetite? There are many others drugs that lower appetite, and yet we still have an obesity crisis. Why would this one solve it?

There is only one class of drugs that lowers appetite outside of these GLP hormone drugs, those are stimulants like amphetamines. As someone on one of the GLP drugs for 3-4 months, and whose body tolerates it well, this is simply turning off the hunger switch. I will miss meals because I'm not hungry, since starting I have never felt "hangry" and I am satiated with small meals and do not feel hungry later. If I overe…

There are others; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Topiramate is one. Nowhere near as effective, though.

Re: ‘Breakthrough’ obesity drugs that have stunned researchers

#206

Post by myshpa »

dcolkitt wrote: post #152
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.

Disagree. People genuinely enjoy those foods, because they're tasty and flavorful. And there's zero reason to believe that they're substantially unhealthy unless consumed to the point of sustained caloric surplus. We know this because we have hunter-gatherer populations who consume 50% of their diets in sugar (e.g. the Hadza) or fats (e.g. Intuit), and they have none of the diseases of abundance found in modern popul…

> ... there's zero reason to believe that they're substantially unhealthy unless consumed to the point of sustained caloric surplus. We know this ...

Disagree.

> who consume 50% of their diets in sugar (e.g. the Hadza)

"Their diet is made up almost exclusively of food that they forage on the forest and includes fiber rich and highly nutritious berries, bananas and honey while any meat they eat is hunted and caught wild." (https://healthyfocus.org/the-hadza-diet-and-the-key-to-a-hea...)

They don't eat sugar. Fruits & vegetables with lots of fiber, wild game. Nothing like westerners diet ... so not really comparable, imho.

"... the Inuit's bodies have adapted to better handle the process of gluconeogenesis, in which the body turns fat and protein into useable glucose. The Inuit have larger livers and a larger volume of urine than the average human, which helps their bodies to process the byproducts of their diet." (https://oureverydaylife.com/486115-the-inuit-diet.html)

Also ... not applicable to a typical westerner.

> The problem is not the food. The problem is obesity.

The food is the problem.

Eat whole foods, mostly plants, minumum fats & sugar, and obesity is problem no more.

> the development of GLP-1 agonists has maybe cost $20 billion

What's the total cost of obesity? The cost of diabetes ? It is an enormous waste of resources.

Re: ‘Breakthrough’ obesity drugs that have stunned researchers

#207

Post by asdff »

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”

Its an article about weight loss and that plays into body image which is a huge mental health issue. People purging themselves need a psychologist, not a biologist, and I'm sure a number of people affected with bulimia will be buying this drug.

Re: ‘Breakthrough’ obesity drugs that have stunned researchers

#208

Post by beckingz »

Ancapistani wrote: post #88
sfusato wrote: post #79

> I believe that everyone, even the skinny folks, should be on GLP1 drugs for the longevity effects. Are you for real? Serious question.

I'm unfamiliar with the research around GLP1 drugs, but I my past reading about the long-term effects of metformin led me to a similar conclusion. Unfortunately, metformin causes me severe gastrointestinal issues that don't resolve themselves after a few weeks. There are lots of surprising findings w/r/t pharmaceuticals if you start really digging. Lots of missed opportunity for overall improvement in the human condi…

Gets into fun tradeoff questions of "Would you live an extra 20 years but have diarrhea every day"

Re: ‘Breakthrough’ obesity drugs that have stunned researchers

#209

Post by dcolkitt »

philjohn wrote: post #186
dcolkitt wrote: post #152

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Disagree. People genuinely enjoy those foods, because they're tasty and flavorful. And there's zero reason to believe that they're substantially unhealthy unless consumed to the point of sustained caloric surplus. We know this because we have hunter-gatherer populations who consume 50% of their diets in sugar (e.g. the Hadza) or fats (e.g. Intuit), and they have none of the diseases of abundance found in modern popul…

Does the type of sugar, or type of fat not play a part here? HFCS is notorious for the bad effects on the body, versus something like honey. Same for the Intuit, simpler animal fats vs hydrogenated "trans" fats? I feel like the key difference in their diets is it's not overly processed and full of things we've decided to put in there for cost reasons (corn subsidies making HFCS cheaper than cane sugar, and trans fats…

Trans fats are indeed unhealthy, but 1) it's been nearly a decade since they were basically removed from fast food, and 2) they don't contribute to obesity.

As for HFCS, there's basically zero evidence that they're a major contributor to obesity versus other types of sugar. (In fact, honey consumed by the Hazda has almost the same balance as sugar as HFCS). We have multiple points of evidence to counteract this. 1) Mexico uses substantially less HFCS compared to other types of sugar, but Mexican obesity rates are as high as the US. 2) HFCS, and sugar in general, consumption has declined over the past 20 years. Yet obesity continues to increase. 3) HFCS was widely consumed in the 1980s, when the obesity rate was de minims.

Re: ‘Breakthrough’ obesity drugs that have stunned researchers

#210

Post by plutonorm »

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.

I think that toxin exposure - unavoidable in the modern world - is likely the biggest culprit here. There are plenty of ideas about which toxins are causing the problem, but there are so many that it would be nigh on impossible to regulate them all out of the environment.
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