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GLP-1 drugs: An economic disruptor? (2024)

wildfirelabs.substack.com

161–170 of 553 posts

Re: GLP-1 drugs: An economic disruptor? (2024)

#161
post #3

Interesting, but I’m not sure I buy it. I certainly don’t think Simon is preparing for this massive economic shift; I think they’re reacting to an existing trend. > America's largest mall operator, Simon Property Group, is converting anchor stores into medical centers and wellness spaces. They're doing this because they recognize the writing on the wall. Malls have been dying for years, and COVID felt like the nail i…

Malls around DC are crazier than ever. But I am not sure if people are spending money or not.

I was last in NoVA in 2019 and shopped at the Sears at Landmark. It was the last store. Crazy=yes.

Re: GLP-1 drugs: An economic disruptor? (2024)

#162
post #149

It's an interesting idea, but ultimately being sensationalized. The article starts off by making a compelling case that the widespread adoption of these impulse-control drugs will disrupt the economy and lead to many changes in business models built around impulse buys. The issue is that these drugs only entered the public consciousness within the last two years, and many of the business model changes that the author…

Revolution it may be, but yeah its made to be sensational, which often means facts may be used out of context or twisted for specific narrative.

Don't worry there will be tons of complementary businesses like overpriced healthy food megastores and countless gyms that will absorb unemployed workforce and all that 'suddenly available' cash. Junk food is cheap, quality tasty healthy one not so much.

Re: GLP-1 drugs: An economic disruptor? (2024)

#163
post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A rebranding to a non-prescription drug will depend on how the prevalence × severity of side effects [0] turns out longer-term. I hope that you are right, but it seems too early to tell. [0] https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S266736812... https://www.gov.uk/drug-safety-update/glp-1-receptor-agonist...

"Gastrointestinal side effects" I assume that is code for excessive and frequent evacuation of watery feces.

“common gastrointestinal side-effects of GLP-1RAs treatment (including nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea and constipation) can persist for several days and may affect more than 1 in 10 patients”

Re: GLP-1 drugs: An economic disruptor? (2024)

#164

Is there a term for this style of writing? It's like a longform linkedin post. I don't mean this as a criticism, it just seems like written language is evolving to better capture our diminishing attention spans.

I've had a hunch it's about the shrinking width of pages. The text-width is about 11-13 words (at a max-width of 728) and the author seems to have written around this. Because it's so thin, anything longer than 12 words becomes a paragraph which "slows" the reader, so there are a lot of punchy short sentences. This style would look silly if it was written on a wider left-aligned blog.

That's funny you mention text-width, I've noticed that with "punchy" articles like these.

Alternatively, when I see the old-school blogs that fill the entire page-width, I get the instant feeling I'm about to read something opinionated and quixotic.

Sure enough, the last HN article with that style hit it-- let's rescue the web by sending around WASM-blobs to be rendered to a common Wayland-like compositing surface. Thanks again, default CSS!

Re: GLP-1 drugs: An economic disruptor? (2024)

#165
post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’ve been hyper aware of the muscle loss caveats and I think it’s the most important thing to know when starting the drug. You really need to prioritize protein intake and make sure your calorie deficit isn’t extreme. Losing too much weight too quickly, with or without the help of a drug, can be very unhealthy. I drink 4 protein shakes a day (160g total) in addition to regular food. If it weren’t for the protein shak…

> Then again, anyone who’s in a calorie deficit has lower energy. Presumably if you're trying to lose weight, you have energy to burn you carry around with you. A calorie deficit doesn't imply lack of calories to burn. Presumably you're trying to trigger ketogenesis. Granted, this is a lot less easy to access than simply eating simple carbs right before a workout and likely a lot less comfortable.

> Presumably you're trying to trigger ketogenesis.

Only if you're actually on a keto diet; most weight loss routines run a calorie deficit without triggering ketogenesis.

Also there's this whole thing about set points - you probably got to your weight somehow, and if it wasn't through consistently making stupid choices over many years, chances are this is what the body learned to consider an equilibrium state. Which means that, if you start running a calorie deficit, it's going to fight you every step of the way. It will happily scale down performance to conserve energy instead of burning the accumulated fat, so you'll just be slow and groggy but not lose weight. There's been reported cases where people got mental illness-level obsessive thoughts about food, which appeared when they were hungry, and stopped when they ate enough.

The degree of this problem varies between people, but it's generally not that easy to effectively lose weight, and some people simply lost the genetic/environmental lottery on this.

Re: GLP-1 drugs: An economic disruptor? (2024)

#166
post #34
post #19

I started Tirzepatide 3-4 weeks ago. (Mostly as an experiment to understand the hype around GLP's... I don't have diabetes and only very slightly overweight at 20% body fat). Even at the lowest 2.5mg starter dose which you're only allowed to stay on for 1 month: - Extreme appetite suppression to the point where I've started calorie counting specifically to make sure that I'm eating enough. It's incredibly easy to for…

> Extreme appetite suppression to the point where I've started calorie counting specifically to make sure that I'm eating enough. It's incredibly easy to forget to eat. This is the largest of several reasons I hesitate to try it for myself. I am a very big guy (I would be about 184lbs if I had 0% bodyfat at my current musculature level). From the experiences I hear, I would not only struggle to have enough energy to…

If it makes you feel better, this class of drugs has been part of bodybuilding cutting stacks for a while now. It makes the process much easier and as long as you're diligent about your shakes, no big deal.

Re: GLP-1 drugs: An economic disruptor? (2024)

#167
post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is the same line of thinking as "drug addicts should just stop doing drugs."

Apologies, I've updated to clarify that my comment is under the assumption that the host is not already under a non-natural influence or medical condition. For example, in the case if there is a medicine that would help drug addicts with their addiction I would be 100% for it.

Even so.

Food can evoke the same neurochemical response as hard drugs or sex for some people. It is even more readily available than either of those things, and it is advertised and produced by multinational conglomerates with huge advertising budgets. They have the resources to maximise the attractiveness of their products and optimise the way they taste to be as pleasurable to eat as possible. Usually that means filling them with terrible ingredients.

It's not much different than social media. People get addicted to social media because they don't stand a chance against social media companies that employ an army of people to optimise every facet of their product for addictiveness.

Modern lifestyles are more sendentary than they used to be, and that plays a part in the explosion of obesity, but so do the conglomerates that produce the junk food.

Re: GLP-1 drugs: An economic disruptor? (2024)

#168

I would point out that it isn't unforeseen, given that genz don't drink, go out or do drugs to anywhere near the extent that millennials did at the same age. ( https://www.statista.com/chart/30783/alcohol-consumption-by-... ) I would also gently point out the evidence for tempering alcohol only seems to be evident with people who have high BMI https://www.pulsetoday.co.uk/news/clinical-areas/mental-heal... So yes, it…

Genz just swapped traditional vices for social media...which also deals with impulse control.

I wonder which is more harmful?

Re: GLP-1 drugs: An economic disruptor? (2024)

#169

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Then again, anyone who’s in a calorie deficit has lower energy. Presumably if you're trying to lose weight, you have energy to burn you carry around with you. A calorie deficit doesn't imply lack of calories to burn. Presumably you're trying to trigger ketogenesis. Granted, this is a lot less easy to access than simply eating simple carbs right before a workout and likely a lot less comfortable.

> Presumably you're trying to trigger ketogenesis. Only if you're actually on a keto diet; most weight loss routines run a calorie deficit without triggering ketogenesis. Also there's this whole thing about set points - you probably got to your weight somehow , and if it wasn't through consistently making stupid choices over many years, chances are this is what the body learned to consider an equilibrium state. Which…

> The degree of this problem varies between people, but it's generally not that easy to effectively lose weight, and some people simply lost the genetic/environmental lottery on this.

Yea, I think your eating and food habits you learn as a child and teenager tend to shape you for life. I was malnourished as a child (I was considered a picky eater) but as an adult I've found it quite easy to keep within the caloric bounds a doctor told me to keep to. One thing I've noticed is that hunger just doesn't bother me the way it does with people who struggle to lose weight or with binge eating—mostly a pain in the ass (I need to remind and force myself to eat), but occasionally something I'm grateful for as I watch the people around me struggle on an existential level with their cravings and bodies.

I also don't have a sweet tooth, and I put that on not being allowed sweets as a child except under very exceptional circumstances. I'm also a (thankfully recovering) alcoholic, so don't mistake this for being generally good at avoiding cravings.

Re: GLP-1 drugs: An economic disruptor? (2024)

#170

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe they are in Canada. Name brand Ozempic is $230 CAD or $160 from Costco up here

[flagged]

I'm sure Novo Nordisk would survive even with slightly lower margins.

Also what proportion of that $1,000 goes to the manufacturer? From what I understand various middlemen and such get a significant proportion of that without providing any value?

e.g. https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2024/09/...

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