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Diet Drugs Work: Why Won’t Doctors Prescribe Them?

newyorker.com

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Re: Diet Drugs Work: Why Won’t Doctors Prescribe Them?

#11

Post by thefuzz »

eli wrote: post #7
spodek wrote: post #5

More relevant questions: - Why don't we stop subsidizing corn so much? - Why don't we teach effective nutrition and cooking in school? - Why don't we teach effective exercise, sports, and fitness in schools? - If we can ban alcohol and tobacco sales to children, why not things like added sugar, hydrogenated oils, corn syrup, etc? - If we can ban alcohol and tobacco advertising to children, why not products with added…

Not sure why you are so cynical. It seems like there's pretty clear progressive movement on several issues. I never thought I'd see a black president in my lifetime.

I don't see him as being cynical. I think these are questions worth asking given that the OP is asking why diet pills aren't prescribed.

It's looking at a problem in a systemic way rather than isolated events, at least according to me.

Re: Diet Drugs Work: Why Won’t Doctors Prescribe Them?

#12

Post by drzaiusapelord »

power2u wrote: post #2

>The drugs work by suppressing appetite, by increasing metabolism, and by other mechanisms that are not yet fully understood. Why would FDA approve something which it we don't fully understand?

Because they're ultimately beholden to big business? I mean, we have no idea how many drugs work yet the FDA goes after 23andme and other organizations (selling stevia as a sweetner before they allowed it recently, etc), etc with questionable motives. I think there's an obvious double standard when it comes to big pharma.

I'm not attacking the FDA per se, but the entire USG. It seems like the buck stops with congress and congress is simply beholden to their financial backers. It doesn't help that SCOTUS is largely conservative (money is speech, citizens united, etc) and the POTUS's direction of the FDA is mystifying as well.

Re: Diet Drugs Work: Why Won’t Doctors Prescribe Them?

#13

Post by tekacs »

spodek wrote: post #5

More relevant questions: - Why don't we stop subsidizing corn so much? - Why don't we teach effective nutrition and cooking in school? - Why don't we teach effective exercise, sports, and fitness in schools? - If we can ban alcohol and tobacco sales to children, why not things like added sugar, hydrogenated oils, corn syrup, etc? - If we can ban alcohol and tobacco advertising to children, why not products with added…

Mostly obviate my foot.

The number of issues that would need addressing to make it possible for everyone to eat a healthy diet (hell how do we go about making cheap, convenient, healthy food on such a scale?) vastly exceeds the number involved in coming up with post-hoc remedies.

More relevant questions are surely those which enable us to do something about the problem in the foreseeable future (such as diet pills) rather than pondering about how things could be better if we were able to solve dozens of complex issues over an unrealistically short timespan?

Re: Diet Drugs Work: Why Won’t Doctors Prescribe Them?

#14

Post by JulianMorrison »

spodek wrote: post #5

More relevant questions: - Why don't we stop subsidizing corn so much? - Why don't we teach effective nutrition and cooking in school? - Why don't we teach effective exercise, sports, and fitness in schools? - If we can ban alcohol and tobacco sales to children, why not things like added sugar, hydrogenated oils, corn syrup, etc? - If we can ban alcohol and tobacco advertising to children, why not products with added…

There are two major things missing from your list.

First: the lipostat mechanism needs fixing, because evolution built what worked, not what would be ideal. Exposure to overeating should not result in a life sentence of obesity.

Second: replace capitalism. There is a reason why there are food deserts, why people have to make the choice of nutrition versus quantity, why people aren't educated on nutrition, why people don't have the time or emotional energy to work at food after they've done working at work, and it's capitalism. Or more precisely, any money-and-work economy. Capitalism just makes it run wildly out of control.

Re: Diet Drugs Work: Why Won’t Doctors Prescribe Them?

#15

Post by Varcht »

spodek wrote: post #5

More relevant questions: - Why don't we stop subsidizing corn so much? - Why don't we teach effective nutrition and cooking in school? - Why don't we teach effective exercise, sports, and fitness in schools? - If we can ban alcohol and tobacco sales to children, why not things like added sugar, hydrogenated oils, corn syrup, etc? - If we can ban alcohol and tobacco advertising to children, why not products with added…

Why don't we live on soylent hooked up to our computers in nice safe plastic bubbles?

Re: Diet Drugs Work: Why Won’t Doctors Prescribe Them?

#16

Post by bryanlarsen »

brianbreslin wrote: post #9

This is an interesting issue. If you're morbidly obese, a 5-10% reduction in weight could add up to significant LBs/KGs lost. So it would seem to me like this would be a great way to jumpstart and re-enforce the other aspects of weight loss. Many people give up because they don't see results fast enough. So much of weight loss is mis-understood, but a lot of it boils down to convenience, will power (choosing to resis…

A major point of the article is that obesity is not a single disease, it is many different diseases. It might be one of various neurological, psychological, endocrinological or digestive problems, or a combination of several. Not surprisingly, cure or mitigation will differ from individual to individual based on the underlying problem.

IOW, what works for you may or may not work for others.

Re: Diet Drugs Work: Why Won’t Doctors Prescribe Them?

#17

Post by [deleted] »

spodek wrote: post #5

More relevant questions: - Why don't we stop subsidizing corn so much? - Why don't we teach effective nutrition and cooking in school? - Why don't we teach effective exercise, sports, and fitness in schools? - If we can ban alcohol and tobacco sales to children, why not things like added sugar, hydrogenated oils, corn syrup, etc? - If we can ban alcohol and tobacco advertising to children, why not products with added…

[deleted]

Re: Diet Drugs Work: Why Won’t Doctors Prescribe Them?

#18

Post by numbsafari »

tekacs wrote: post #13
spodek wrote: post #5

More relevant questions: - Why don't we stop subsidizing corn so much? - Why don't we teach effective nutrition and cooking in school? - Why don't we teach effective exercise, sports, and fitness in schools? - If we can ban alcohol and tobacco sales to children, why not things like added sugar, hydrogenated oils, corn syrup, etc? - If we can ban alcohol and tobacco advertising to children, why not products with added…

Mostly obviate my foot. The number of issues that would need addressing to make it possible for everyone to eat a healthy diet (hell how do we go about making cheap, convenient, healthy food on such a scale?) vastly exceeds the number involved in coming up with post-hoc remedies. More relevant questions are surely those which enable us to do something about the problem in the foreseeable future (such as diet pills) r…

"how do we go about making cheap, convenient, healthy food on such a scale?"

We need people to stop worrying about "casual gaming at scale" and start worrying about "living a good life at scale".

It's just that, there's not usually as much profit in the solutions that actually work or matter.

Re: Diet Drugs Work: Why Won’t Doctors Prescribe Them?

#20

Post by tocomment »

spodek wrote: post #5

More relevant questions: - Why don't we stop subsidizing corn so much? - Why don't we teach effective nutrition and cooking in school? - Why don't we teach effective exercise, sports, and fitness in schools? - If we can ban alcohol and tobacco sales to children, why not things like added sugar, hydrogenated oils, corn syrup, etc? - If we can ban alcohol and tobacco advertising to children, why not products with added…

I've been looking for a way to make vegetables like brocoli or green beans palatable. What's your secret?
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