Semaglutide linked to lower predicted dementia risk • Hacker News Board

Re: Semaglutide linked to lower predicted dementia risk

#161

Post by Retric » Sat, Aug 15, 2026, 8:24 PM UTC

bityard wrote: post #137

wolfy1993 wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not sure how the medical establishment ignores this, from my understanding (and please correct me if I'm wrong as I'm not fact checking myself in this moment) - the association between the two is largely linked to vascular dementia (obesity, hypertension, yadda yadda). I think it's hard to argue "The medical establishment" ignores diet as an important factor. I think the reality a lot of the time is doctors presc…

The medical establishment that I have familiarity with (in the US) pretty much only ever treats symptoms, not causes. Don't believe me? Next time you go to see your primary care physician, ask them what you should be doing to lower your risk of whatever malady tends to run in your family. (Diabetes, cancer, dementia, etc.) They're going to stare at you in blank confusion for a few seconds before making some vague sug…

In my experience that’s wildly inaccurate. Dietary choices, weight loss, exercise, etc are often given as an effective means of avoiding and or controlling a wide range of conditions.

People are instead blowing off such advice because they don’t want to hear it.

Re: Semaglutide linked to lower predicted dementia risk

#162

Post by brazukadev » Sat, Aug 15, 2026, 8:25 PM UTC

eastbound wrote: post #134

wolfy1993 wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not sure how the medical establishment ignores this, from my understanding (and please correct me if I'm wrong as I'm not fact checking myself in this moment) - the association between the two is largely linked to vascular dementia (obesity, hypertension, yadda yadda). I think it's hard to argue "The medical establishment" ignores diet as an important factor. I think the reality a lot of the time is doctors presc…

You say force a diet change on a patient. OP certainly meant forcing a diet change in the input of American factories. Sugar can be found in fruits. That's the right place. If you need some, use fruits, maybe alcohol. Everything else can be slashed. No sugar in prepared meals anymore. No sugar in pasta anymore. And most of all, no sugar in water. Sugar input makes more damage than cocaine today. We can call it the Pr…

people are so addicted to sugar that you are getting downvoted and maybe even flagged.

I like "The War on Sugar" idea (even tho I went out 1 hour ago to buy lots of chocolates and candies, as I'm an addict).

Re: Semaglutide linked to lower predicted dementia risk

#163

Post by cowsandmilk » Sat, Aug 15, 2026, 8:28 PM UTC

bariswheel wrote: post #48

tdlr: This is a Novo Nordisk-funded study focusing on predictive biomarkers rather than real-world dementia cases. Novo Nordisk's actual dedicated clinical trials for Alzheimer's completely failed to show that semaglutide stops cognitive decline. "A predictive biomarker is like a "check engine" light on your dashboard. It warns you that there is a risk of a future problem. In this study, the researchers only checked…

> This is a Novo Nordisk-funded study focusing on predictive biomarkers rather than real-world dementia cases

You act like all this is hidden, but the title of the article and the list of authors makes this self-evident.

> Novo Nordisk's actual dedicated clinical trials for Alzheimer's completely failed to show that semaglutide stops cognitive decline

Sure, but the EVOKE studies were focused on something that could be sold as a product covered by insurance: semaglutide to those who had already developed Alzheimer’s. It is widely agreed the trial failed because it was a population already diagnosed with dementia. There’s lots of studies not funded by Novo that show semiglutatide has reduced the incidence of dementia in the diabetes population. Novo knows that running a general study on whether semaglutide reduces dementia in a non-diagnosed population is useless to their bottom line because insurance will never pay for everyone to take the drug.

Re: Semaglutide linked to lower predicted dementia risk

#164

Post by stephbook » Sat, Aug 15, 2026, 8:29 PM UTC

declan_roberts wrote: post #74

antinomicus wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’m on tirzepatide right now from Eli lily, and I’ve been very interested in Reta, but I can’t say that I jump at the chance to inject something into myself that hasn’t been tested directly on the actual thing I’m about to put into my body. I know there are testing companies that will test certain sources but it’s not like they’ve tested the vial you get. If there’s some kind of pathogen or bacteria or whatever in th…

That's a common and very acceptable concern and there's not great answers for it. Mostly a place will do multi-vail testing for purity, sterility, endotoxin and heavy metals. The idea is that the sample is sufficient to show safety. Many are rightfully dubious of this but still thousand and thousands of people taking it.

I'm using reta myself, but honestly it's because sema/tirz isn't allowed for me either. If you have medical tirz available, you should have some serious reasons to jump into the unregulated shark tank.

Re: Semaglutide linked to lower predicted dementia risk

#165

Post by anon291 » Sat, Aug 15, 2026, 8:30 PM UTC

alyandon wrote: post #69

jaggederest wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have some individual anecdotal evidence. I spent a long time, basically a year, relatively heavy but on a very small dose of GLP drugs due to tolerability issues, and my labs improved dramatically , to a degree we redid them out of disbelief, even without weight loss. I believe one of the suspected underlying causes is reduction in fatty liver despite constant body weight and composition, and also inflammation redu…

Similar experience here on minimal dose of GLP-1. There is definitely something going on here other than "you are just losing weight and that's really why you are healthier". With my labs at my current weight you can not tell that I am a type 2 diabetic. Previously, when I was at this very same weight in the past - all my labs indicated I was prediabetic.

A lot of metabolic stuff is due to insulin and insulin sensitivity. This drives pretty much everything. Insulin sensitization is pretty terrible and it gets more important as you age. Unfortunately natural selection doesn't need to fix this as it doesn't cause issues until after reproduction and often until after your grandkids are born.

Semaglutide and glp1s resensitize it which is why they have these effects.

My opinion

Re: Semaglutide linked to lower predicted dementia risk

#166

Post by aaron695 » Sat, Aug 15, 2026, 8:31 PM UTC

bariswheel wrote: post #48

tdlr: This is a Novo Nordisk-funded study focusing on predictive biomarkers rather than real-world dementia cases. Novo Nordisk's actual dedicated clinical trials for Alzheimer's completely failed to show that semaglutide stops cognitive decline. "A predictive biomarker is like a "check engine" light on your dashboard. It warns you that there is a risk of a future problem. In this study, the researchers only checked…

[dead]

Re: Semaglutide linked to lower predicted dementia risk

#167

Post by SubmarineClub » Sat, Aug 15, 2026, 8:33 PM UTC

OptionOfT wrote: post #158

cthalupa wrote: post #151

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> So has anyone managed to separate the effects of semaglutide from the effects of weight loss? In general? Yes. For this specific thing? We haven't even really shown the effects matter for humans. > If this is caused by the weight loss, it is a little disappointing that public health didn't act quicker - lots of people have been overweight for a century now, so literally 10's of millions of people could have been sa…

We're too soft on companies, but equally too hard on people who have a food addiction.

[flagged]

Re: Semaglutide linked to lower predicted dementia risk

#168

Post by brokensegue » Sat, Aug 15, 2026, 8:35 PM UTC

tacon wrote: post #147

brokensegue wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is there evidence supporting the idea that sugar is more satiating? My understanding was that they were equally unhealthy

No, the evidence is that there is no significant difference in satiety. HFCS is 55% fructose / 45% glucose, while sucrose is 50% fructose / 50% glucose.

yeah that was my understanding. for some reason corn syrup is vilified. the real problem there (as I understand it) is corn subsidies.

Re: Semaglutide linked to lower predicted dementia risk

#169

Post by anon291 » Sat, Aug 15, 2026, 8:35 PM UTC

kccqzy wrote: post #92

01100011 wrote: post #38

I'm a big semaglutide proponent after being on it for a year. I know research says it helps with inflammation, arthritis (separately from weight reduction), and all sorts of magical things. I lost 40 pounds in a year(230 to 190) at age 50. Great! I also went from being active and fat(weightlifting with some cardio) to basically having no energy. In the last year I've had arthritis appear in several joints. I'm awake…

I’m also active and fat. And to me being active is more important than losing weight; I’d rather continue to do those long 2000kcal bike rides on weekends than having a healthier BMI. I’ve heard stories of my own friends bonking during a ride and I decided that I wanted to err on the side of overeating. So semaglutide doesn’t interest me. You aren’t the only one I’ve heard who started to have no energy after being on…

Being active is great but fat is still dangerous. Let's not lie to ourselves.

> decided that I wanted to err on the side of overeating

The reason you bonk is because you've run out of sugar in your muscles not fat

Re: Semaglutide linked to lower predicted dementia risk

#170

Post by SubmarineClub » Sat, Aug 15, 2026, 8:37 PM UTC

eapressoandcats wrote: post #119

WarmWash wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My assumption was that GLP-1's don't suppress appetite so much as suppress the compulsion to eat when not necessary/more than necessary?

They also clearly have some impacts on metabolism. It’s well known that a challenge with dieting isn’t just eating less, it’s metabolic changes that make weight loss harder. GLP-1’s avoid that.

> metabolic changes that make weight loss harder

Which are vastly overblown. I diet every year as part of bodybuilding, at a range of intensities and durations, and have never had issues with sudden metabolic changes that make it harder to lose weight.