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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

#591

Post by ilyt »

iLoveOncall wrote: post #498
tyleo wrote: post #479

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Losing weight was extremely challenging and socially isolating. How was it socially isolating? I’m curious because I exercise and diet and this is not my experience. I understand it being challenging though.

Because if you want to lose quickly, and once you get the discipline to lose you do want it to be quick, you have to restrict your calories A LOT. I'm not OP but when I was losing, as a 6"2 male, I was eating between 1200 and 1400 calories a day. This does not allow you to eat anything outside of small meals and drink anything outside of water or diet sodas. I was still going sometimes to the restaurant with friends…

I'd rather fast day before/after than go to event only to be miserable when everyone around me is eating food I want to eat

Re: ‘Breakthrough’ obesity drugs that have stunned researchers

#592

Post by gsk22 »

moonchrome wrote: post #582
0xB31B1B wrote: post #555

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Eating food and drinking alcohol is a core part of most social activities. When you're losing weight, you can't really fuck up, you really need to stick to your diet. I found it difficult to maintain my diet in social settings (going to a friends party, eating at a restaurant with friends, going to a bar to celebrate something, etc) so I just stopped doing all of those things for 8 months. Like, if you're trying to q…

Everyone is addicted to food - what you're describing sounds like a great way to set yourself up for failure. You can eat socially, you can have days you overeat and then fast the difference, etc. Pigeonholing yourself to super restrictive regimen - for what ? It's not like you have a deadline to lose the weight - and if your routine isn't easily sustainable you're just going to revert to old behavior as soon as some…

No, everyone needs food. Not everyone is addicted to it.

Maybe in the loosey-goosey "I'm addicted to chocolate" way, but not in the "I habitually over-consume despite the negative consequences" way.

Re: ‘Breakthrough’ obesity drugs that have stunned researchers

#593

Post by UncleEntity »

jostmey wrote: post #571
jfk13 wrote: post #553

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> everyone, even the skinny folks, should be on GLP1 drugs Seriously? No thanks. Think I'll give you all a few decades to see what the long-term effects are like, and let my body largely take care of itself except when specific medical issues indicate that an intervention is in order.

The only proven way to live longer and reduce your risk of essentially every disease is to reduce caloric intake. So unless you are underweight, the benefits could outweigh any side effects. I am not advocating that everyone take these drugs--but I understand why someone might suggest it

Why would I need a drug for that?

I could probably just eat better (ie not one meal a day) and get “healthy”…not that I’m unhealthy now. Maybe, I prefer to live in denial.

Three small meals a day and cut out the snacks and no drugs for me to take for the rest of my life.

Re: ‘Breakthrough’ obesity drugs that have stunned researchers

#594

Post by csours »

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…

This analysis lacks proper understanding of the role that hunger and food drive plays.

Imagine that you are at the beach, and you can choose how deep you want to wade or how far you want to swim. If you like the water and the sun and the waves, this is very pleasant to imagine.

Now imagine that you are dropped into the ocean at night 200 meters from shore and you can't see land, you can't see lights. This is very unpleasant to imagine.

Our current food system is much like the second scenario.

Instead of framing it as whether or not it is possible to be healthy in this system, ask if the system is consistent with the goals of being healthy. Is a candy bar and a bag of chips consistent with the goals of being healthy?

If you are dropped in the ocean in the middle of the night, it is possible to swim to land. But it is also very likely that many people will not be able to swim to land in that scenario.

> The food is only an issue because some people have overly strong appetites relative to the abundance of food.

Then why is it advertised? Are food advertisements consistent with the goal of health?

Re: ‘Breakthrough’ obesity drugs that have stunned researchers

#596

Post by ravel-bar-foo »

jostmey wrote: post #571
jfk13 wrote: post #553

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> everyone, even the skinny folks, should be on GLP1 drugs Seriously? No thanks. Think I'll give you all a few decades to see what the long-term effects are like, and let my body largely take care of itself except when specific medical issues indicate that an intervention is in order.

The only proven way to live longer and reduce your risk of essentially every disease is to reduce caloric intake. So unless you are underweight, the benefits could outweigh any side effects. I am not advocating that everyone take these drugs--but I understand why someone might suggest it

> The only proven way to live longer and reduce your risk of essentially every disease is to reduce caloric intake.

Has this been proven in humans? The last review article I read mentioned that it was true for lab mice, but resulted in a suppressed immune response, which would result in early mortality for mice not living in a sterile (specific pathogen free; SPF) labitat.

Re: ‘Breakthrough’ obesity drugs that have stunned researchers

#597

Post by relaxing »

windpower wrote: post #526
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…

I'm also on one of these drugs (Tirzepatide) and have been for a few months. The first time I remember knowing I was fat was when a babysitter made fun of me for it at age 6. I've been fat ever since and I'm in my late 30s now. I've lost significant amounts of weight (60+ pounds) three times in my adult life, through simple calorie restriction (intermittent fasting, including before I'd ever heard the term). Every ti…

> I've heard people say that the solution is to eat (healthy food) when you're hungry, and stop when you're full. The thing is, I'm never full.

This is what all the common advice doesn’t address.

The only thing that has helped for me in the past was an SNRI (sibutramine) that was later withdrawn from the market. Then all the weight came back.

Re: ‘Breakthrough’ obesity drugs that have stunned researchers

#598

Post by giaour »

onionisafruit wrote: post #482
nerdawson wrote: post #444

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I did a little bit of research and for people in the UK it appears to be substantially less. I found a few health companies offering it for <$250/mo. I’ll probably wait until it’s readily available on the NHS but it is tempting.

My US doctor recommended it to me last week and said there was a way for it to cost about $200/mo if I want to do that. I thought it was strange that he said it that way instead of just saying the price, but I didn't follow up because we were 45 minutes into the appointment and I was ready to get out of there. I'm supposed to book a follow up appointment after I've read about it, so I guess I'll find out what he mean…

Your doc was probably referring to purchasing semaglutide from a compounding pharmacy, which is usually in the $200/month range (depending on dose). Compounded versions don't typically come in the user friendly "injection pen" format that brand name versions do, so not everybody is comfortable with that option.

Re: ‘Breakthrough’ obesity drugs that have stunned researchers

#599

Post by RedditKon »

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…

Same - Mounjaro / Tirzeparide is nothing short of life changing.

A question I often get is "how effective is it?"

The SURMOUNT-1 study released in April 2022 showed 22.5% average reduction in weight for people on the highest dose of Mounjaro. For a 250 lbs person who should weigh 150 lbs (so 100 lbs of extra weight), this would result in them losing 56 lbs or 56% of their excess weight.

For context, bariatric surgery has the following success:

- Gastric Band: 35% - 45% of excess weight lost - Gastric Sleeve: 60% - 75% of excess weight lost

The fact that a once a week injection is having results similar to bariatric surgery is insane, and this is only the early innings of this shift. Lilly has another drug in the works (will likely be released in late 2025) that is reporting better results than Mounjaro.

Wild and exciting times!

Re: ‘Breakthrough’ obesity drugs that have stunned researchers

#600

Post by nik282000 »

tyleo wrote: post #479
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…

> Losing weight was extremely challenging and socially isolating. How was it socially isolating? I’m curious because I exercise and diet and this is not my experience. I understand it being challenging though.

Be overweight, bust out your healthy lunch at work. People will flat out tell you "Oh, it's so good you are trying to be healthy." So already you are being told that they thought you didn't care before and you have finally decided to make the "right" decision.
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