GLP-1 drugs: An economic disruptor? (2024) • Hacker News Board

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

#201

Post by bgnn » Sat, Mar 01, 2025, 10:10 PM UTC

brokensegue wrote: post #26

aljgz wrote: post #14

> When companies like Google see their healthcare costs drop by $12,000 per employee annually and productivity increase by 25%, we observe a restructuring of corporate America that makes remote work a minor adjustment. In my entire office, there's one overweight person that I know. Out of thousands of employees. There could be more, and other cities might be different, but you get the idea. The author intentionally o…

40% of Americans are obese and way more are merely overweight. Either your office is small, a huge fluke, weirdly selected or you're not observant enough.

Luckily there's the rest of the world.

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

#202

Post by fallingknife » Sat, Mar 01, 2025, 10:10 PM UTC

kansface wrote: post #168

dehrmann wrote: post #146

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

I wonder which is more harmful?

I can't say which is more harmful, but social media is a hell of a lot less fun

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

#203

Post by hamandcheese » Sat, Mar 01, 2025, 10:11 PM UTC

Judgmentality wrote: post #50

cj wrote: 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…

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If you don't cook, it is very easy to spend $1000+ on food in a month, especially if you live in a high cost of living area.

I'm single, live alone, work a lot, and earn a lot. Food delivery apps are hella expensive... but I still pay it quite frequently. Yes, I am ashamed, thanks for asking.

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

#204

Post by api » Sat, Mar 01, 2025, 10:12 PM UTC

cj wrote: 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…

Does it have any impact on focus or motivation to get work done, do hobbies or recreational activities, engage in human relationships, sex, intellectual curiosity, etc.?

It would be fascinating and almost too good to be true if we found a way to suppress only largely harmful (in our current environment) urges but leave the good ones intact.

Something like that becoming widely available could change the world, and mostly for the better. It would refocus our entire economy on much more constructive pursuits instead of gambling, addiction, and pandering to transient urges.

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

#205

Post by immibis » Sat, Mar 01, 2025, 10:13 PM UTC

rsync wrote: post #28

The real trend is deflation. People are having fewer children. Fewer miles are driven to fewer offices for fewer trips in cars. Fewer impulse buys are being made and fewer dollars will be made by advertisements (according to the ops conjecture). This is not inflationary. It is the opposite. We live in a deeply deflationary world and we should not be confused by the local, transitory inflation that we may be experienc…

Monetary deflation is easy to solve: just print more money.

But who do you give it to? Well, obviously, you give it to billionaires because they are the best at managing money because they're billionaires. They can then spend it on wages, without having to produce anything useful because they are just getting free printed money.

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

#206

Post by dghlsakjg » Sat, Mar 01, 2025, 10:13 PM UTC

loeg wrote: post #197

dghlsakjg wrote: post #160

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What a take. I have no idea what Americans overpaying for healthcare has to do with a Danish drug company participating in the Canadian Healthcare market. I’d rather thank the Canadian government for having a drug pricing review process. If these companies don’t want to sell their drugs here, no one is making them. They are still here, so I think it’s safe to assume that they are still making money.

It's unambiguously the case that the US subsidizes drug development for the rest of the world, including non-US pharma companies like Novo.

Just because they extract massive profits from the US market does not mean that they would stop operating if they only extracted healthy profits.

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

#207

Post by asveikau » Sat, Mar 01, 2025, 10:15 PM UTC

cj wrote: 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…

> My morning starbucks routine has changed from 2 food items to just 1, which alone saves me $200/mo (sorry starbucks).

Starbucks food is especially calorie dense. I realized this when I lost a bunch of weight in 2018 and I noticed the calorie counts on the printed cards that some stores have. Even for junk food, Starbucks junk food is more calorific than average for the same items.

I started to consider that for a typical customer's consumption, McDonald's might actually be healthier than Starbucks. Which totally goes against the image people have of both places.

People think if they are "going for coffee", it's better for you than having a milkshake and following it with candy. But it's essentially what they're doing.

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

#208

Post by cj » Sat, Mar 01, 2025, 10:15 PM UTC

Judgmentality wrote: post #172

cj wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can get wegovy generic for $299/mo and Zepbound generic for $399/mo currently through telemedicine via compounding pharmacies, without insurance.

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I dont track it. I order instacart a couple times a month which costs $300 per order. Plus eating out. So about $1k or more a month. Single, live alone.

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

#209

Post by pedalpete » Sat, Mar 01, 2025, 10:19 PM UTC

willis936 wrote: post #59

smallmancontrov wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why is it only appropriate for people with heart disease / mobility issues but not for someone who is merely overweight? This feels like finger-wagging for the sake of finger-wagging.

It isn't. 20% body fat is 6% below average. That isn't "merely overweight", it's likely underweight. No, I don't think underweight people should take appetite suppressants and I don't think that qualifies as a hot take. I think anyone who is medically overweight (which is a very modest BMI qualifier for anyone with any amount of muscle) should have the choice. Many US medical systems and insurers agree, which is a go…

You're confusing average with good. 15% body fat (for a man) is completely healthy, so as the OP said, he is slightly overweight.

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

#210

Post by cm2187 » Sat, Mar 01, 2025, 10:19 PM UTC

cj wrote: 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…

I am 8 months in, you do develop a tolerance over time to the drug (and why you need to increase the dosage progressively). I have gone up slower than the prescibed steps but still, this drug is to help doing diets, I don't think it would work as a long term medication. And as far as I can tell, when you get off the drug or have become tolerant to the current dosage, it is easy to gain back some weight if you are not careful. So the point being I don't think it will suppress completely obesity, but it will certainly help people make a time limited effort to go down to a lower weight.