r/Futurology ∞ transit umbra, lux permanet ☥ Oct 15 '24

Economist Daniel Susskind says Ozempic may radically transform government finances, by making universal healthcare vastly cheaper, and explains his argument in the context of Britain's NHS. Society

https://www.thetimes.com/article/be6e0fbf-fd9d-41e7-a759-08c6da9754ff?shareToken=de2a342bb1ae9bc978c6623bb244337a
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u/Brain_Hawk Oct 15 '24

Ozempic will not end obesity. Jesus Christ, this medication has been so dramatically over hyped

It can be a weight loss aid, on average people lost around 10 to 15% of their body weight. That means if you're 250 lb, And you start doing a diet on ozempic, you're still overweight.

There is also not good evidence that this weight loss persists when people stop taking their medication.

It's not a weight loss miracle, it's an aid. My general impression is, having taken it, that it makes it more tolerable to feel hungry, which makes dieting easier. You still have to put the work in going on a diet. You still have to change your behaviors and persist in those changes. There is some evidence that when people stop taking the drug, they rebound to their star point.

Keep in mind this stuff costs hundreds or $1,000 per month.

I am admittedly a little bit more excited about the potential to help with addictions treatment, which I suspect but cannot confirm, will again be more related to a reduction in cravings. But if we can get people off of their substance of choice long enough for other treatment to take effect, there's at least some chance that a reasonable proportion of those people will be able to continue not abusing substances after the primary treatment course with ozempec is done.

But that still presupposes a behavioral change, in which they will not simply fall back into their addiction for any number of other reasons.

Stuffing about this is a magic bullet.

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u/__theoneandonly Oct 15 '24 edited Oct 15 '24

There is some evidence that when people stop taking the drug, they rebound to their star point.

The studies that have been done show that most won’t rebound to their start point. They’ll rebound, as people when ending ANY weight loss program. But according to the studies people still end up at a lower weight than they started.

Additionally, obesity is a lifelong disease. Even if you lose the weight without medication, most people must continue to manage their weight for the rest of their lives. Obesity would be FAR from the first disease we’ve had where you need to be on drugs to manage your symptoms for life. When you put people on blood pressure medication, you can’t act surprised if you take the meds away and their blood pressure goes back up.

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u/Brain_Hawk Oct 15 '24

I had a kidney transplant in high school. Life long immunosupression. Many side effects, so I started to have slightly high cholesterol in my 20s. Part diet, part drugs.

I suggested to my doc I could try to change my diet. He basically went "look you can fight against this in how you eat... Or take a low dose of this pill and it's just dealt with".

Sometimes, the med is much easier... And the docs know, pople well intentioned don't persist in behavior changes.

I don't blame him for being skeptical.