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

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

#331
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…

> being overweight will be a choice (choosing not to take the drug)

This may be an ignorant take and if it is I apologize, but isn't it a choice anyway? A calorie deficit and minimal exercise will have you cutting body fat. Or am I missing something here?

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

#332
post #210
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…

I’ve been on it for over 2 years now. Yes you plateau, and if you go off of it (as I had periodically), you will regain weight. Hoping my weight loss resumes now that I’m back to the maximum dosage for a few weeks. As it’s 5pm and I just ate for the first time today, I can confidently confirm that my appetite is well suppressed.

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

#333

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm curious -- do you have any brain fog? Are you able to exercise? When you exercise, do you wind up eating more, i.e. the caloric amount that you exercised? I've never had any psychological difficulty with losing weight. I don't care if I'm hungry. But what happens when I eat less and lose weight is that I have trouble concentrating. The glucose my brain needs just isn't there. And if I do physical activity, forget…

> But what happens when I eat less and lose weight is that I have trouble concentrating. The glucose my brain needs just isn't there. This is crazy, I have the completely opposite effect. On keto + calorie restriction I feel much more alert and sharp.

Well yeah in ketosis your brain is running on a different energy source

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

#334
Obesity causes many health problems, but it's also a symptom - of our poor relationship with food, of the way American society is set up around instant gratification, of the predatory nature of food manufacturers.

Though treating the symptom is undeniably good, it also lets the deeper problems that lead to it go unchecked, and my fear is that it will lead to novel problems down the line. How recreational drugs are being replaced by social media is a good example of this; less harm to the body, undeniably good, but still harmful to the mind, and enabling new industries to pop up and find new ways to exploit people.

To be clear my problems aren't with Ozempic, and I believe it should be researched further and, if safe (which seems to be the case), widely available. But the fact is that many nations are able to maintain healthy weight without drugs, and I think if we fail to continue asking why that is, the same societal patterns that led to self-destructive individual behavior in the first place will remain unaddressed.

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

#335
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…

> Losing too much weight too quickly, with or without the help of a drug, can be very unhealthy. Is there evidence to back this up? It sounds reasonable, especially without a limit on "too quickly" but (anecdata incoming) I'm curious because: - When I first tried a low-carb diet (for non-weight reasons) I lost about thirty pounds in under three months without really trying, and hit something like 12% bodyfat - When I…

Anecdotally (but in line with what I read about this), I got gallstones after getting rid of 30 kgs in about 6 months, which is too fast for losing a third of your body weight. Since I had a scan before starting the diet for unrelated reasons, I'm sure they weren't there before.

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

#336
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.

Most of these studies use BMI which doesn't differentiate between muscle mass and fat. The number is likely much lower. Additionally, your numbers are off. I think you are looking at the number of people considered overweight, not obese. There were only three states in 2023 with an obesity rate over 40% [0]. The number usually hovers between 30 and 35%.

[0] https://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data-and-statistics/adult-obesit...

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

#337
Incredibly excited about these drugs (like everyone else) and have been looking into them for a bit. A few notes:

- Semaglutide just came off the shortage list [0], companies won’t be able to compound it for long

- generic Liraglutide exists, and is about half as effective

- patent expiries vary[1]

[0]: https://glp1.guide/content/semaglutide-removed-from-shortage...

[1]: https://glp1.guide/content/another-generic-liraglutide-launc...

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

#338
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…

In October of 2023, when Walmart CEO told Bloomberg [0] that ozempic was partially responsible for sales declining, other shares including Coca-Cola [1] started to fall as well....

[0] https://web.archive.org/web/20231006122607/https://www.bnnbl...

[1] https://www.marketwatch.com/story/coca-cola-and-pepsicos-sto...

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

#339
post #330

The article warns about impending future inequality: > Imagine two employees. One can afford these medications, the other cannot. One has regulated impulses, higher energy, better focus, and lower healthcare costs. The other doesn't. In a few years, data shows the first is three times more likely to be promoted. > Scale that across society. I'm not sure this is a reasonable worry. Ozempic is going out of patent in le…

when semaglutide and tirzepatide first came out, they were being synthesized in labs across the world for pennies per milligram, as with all compounds.

Yeah unfortunately that’s about to come to an abrupt end
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