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GLP-1 pills are coming, and they could revolutionize weight-loss treatment

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31–40 of 137 posts

Re: GLP-1 pills are coming, and they could revolutionize weight-loss treatment

#32
post #7

Curious if there's been any accounting on the long term impact in terms of cost on the healthcare system. On the one hand, obesity is associated with many other ailments such as heart disease, diabetes, etc. that cost the system a lot of money. On the other hand, well, longer life spans impacting Social Security, Medicare, etc.

??? how is cost on the healthcare system the thing to be worried about over longer lifespan and quality of life? strange thing to focus on lol but i think if you think it thru, 1 should dominate 2, and 2 should be reduced as well.

Health care costs is how individual people’s terrible lifestyle decisions end up impacting everybody else. If somebody wants to live some awful unhealthy lifestyle it really should be their own choice to do so. Except for the fact that it drives up everybody’s insurance premiums, and in countries where the government either partially or entirely subsidises healthcare costs, it gives the government an outright moral mandate to start nannying everybody’s health choices.

If somebody wants to live an obese lifestyle, I really think that’s up to them. But I’d be much happier about it if it didn’t cost me so much money.

Re: GLP-1 pills are coming, and they could revolutionize weight-loss treatment

#34
post #4

for those who are interested in a cheaper, partially generic, pill based option for weight loss, i was just referred by a friend to the naltrexone + bupropion + metformin solution offered by hims (not linking because their website is terrible for learning anything without giving all your health info). he lost 30lbs in 3 months on it. i've just started so i cant vouch but just sharing that non GLP1 appetite suppressio…

This is sold as Contrave / MySimba, albeit adding metformin to the mix is a little unusual https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naltrexone/bupropion

For those not aware: Metformin is a popular (unapproved?) nootropic.

Re: GLP-1 pills are coming, and they could revolutionize weight-loss treatment

#35

Overconsumption leading to widespread obesity while a large fraction of the world is hungry - the capitalist solution? Let's invent a pill so we can eat EVEN MORE.

I feel like this is a weirdly cynical response. GLP-1s actually inhibit appetite. I took a friend on them once to a nice cafe I’d found and even though he agreed their pastries were delicious he didn’t finish his and took it home. There seem to be pretty clear signs that GLP-1 inhibitors are decreasing overall food consumption.

I’m not even sure this is a capitalist solution. Sure, Novo Nordisk is making a ton of money with these pills at the moment, but at least externally it seems like their decisions are controlled by the foundation (of course, money talks and no one is immune).

I know plenty of people who are scared of needles and I’m not sure they should have to suffer from diabetes if they should develop it.

Separately, and I’m not an expert but slightly more knowledgeable than a layperson, but food scarcity is rarely because of overconsumption in the global West. The blame usually lies with corrupt local organizations working with NGOs and poor quality transmission routes rather than global food markets.

Re: GLP-1 pills are coming, and they could revolutionize weight-loss treatment

#36

[flagged]

as an american who avoids sugar and processed foods (like seed oils) its virtually impossible to eat out or buy anything beyond whole foods. Everything is contaminated.

Combine that with forever chemical use in packaging, pesticides in non-organic produce, our food supply chain is killing us.

I buy eggs from reputable regenerative free range, non-vegetarian fed chickens. I order my poultry and beef from regenerative farms across the country who are verified organic + grass fed + grass finished.

I bake my own bread and cook 95% of the meals I eat at home.

It costs an arm and a leg and isnt convenient but I feel much better.

Re: GLP-1 pills are coming, and they could revolutionize weight-loss treatment

#37
post #7

Curious if there's been any accounting on the long term impact in terms of cost on the healthcare system. On the one hand, obesity is associated with many other ailments such as heart disease, diabetes, etc. that cost the system a lot of money. On the other hand, well, longer life spans impacting Social Security, Medicare, etc.

??? how is cost on the healthcare system the thing to be worried about over longer lifespan and quality of life? strange thing to focus on lol but i think if you think it thru, 1 should dominate 2, and 2 should be reduced as well.

I mean, I'm contributing to the Social Security system here so I'd like to know how it's going to impact my long term retirement. There's nothing malicious about it; purely a question of accounting and math.

Re: GLP-1 pills are coming, and they could revolutionize weight-loss treatment

#38
post #4

for those who are interested in a cheaper, partially generic, pill based option for weight loss, i was just referred by a friend to the naltrexone + bupropion + metformin solution offered by hims (not linking because their website is terrible for learning anything without giving all your health info). he lost 30lbs in 3 months on it. i've just started so i cant vouch but just sharing that non GLP1 appetite suppressio…

I've never heard of combining metformin with the other two drugs. The naltrexone/bupropion combination is sold under the brand name Contrave. As with any weight loss drug, I recommend a healthy amount of scepticism. Contrave's history includes an initial FDA disapproval and two prematurely terminated studies, and the drug changed hands a couple of times.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naltrexone/bupropion#History

Re: GLP-1 pills are coming, and they could revolutionize weight-loss treatment

#39
post #6

How does it work? Does it reduce the calorie intake by decreasing the appetite? Your body burns more calories because the drug sets the thermostat higher?! Or something else? I don't know how to feel about the idea that we need treatment for being overweight in general.

The way I've heard it put is that it "quiets the food noise"

Re: GLP-1 pills are coming, and they could revolutionize weight-loss treatment

#40
post #6

How does it work? Does it reduce the calorie intake by decreasing the appetite? Your body burns more calories because the drug sets the thermostat higher?! Or something else? I don't know how to feel about the idea that we need treatment for being overweight in general.

It patches a reward center in your brain, reducing appetite, but also patching addiction reward center activity. https://recursiveadaptation.com/p/the-growing-scientific-cas... > The consistency that I'm hearing from all across patient groups is gain of control, whereas previously, there was a loss of control… All of a sudden they're able to step back and say, 'oh, well I had this shopping phenomenon that was going o…

Sidenote, my SO recently started a generic GLP-1 shot. It has far more side effects, at least during ramp up - than just reward center.

Notably a wide array of food either make them sick to their stomach or have colon related issues (diarrhea or constipation).

I suspect i do observe reward changes as well, but especially in the first few weeks it felt like i was observing weight loss strictly because they struggled to eat so much food without getting sick. So many of the foods they still wanted would just make them sick immediately or hours later.

I think they read that much of this is temporary to the ramp-up time, though. So hopefully in ~6 months they'll be on the full dose and won't have so many nausea/diarrhea issues.

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