5 ms·

This cannot be understated. Obesity is being changed from a willpower problem to a chronic disease that is treatable. The follow-on effects of this are huge.

candiddevmike 3y ago
What are the side effects? There's never a free lunch with biological systems...
- belltaco 3y ago
  Free lunches are part of the problem that led us here in the first place.
  - qwertox 3y ago
    It was sugar.
    - Obscurity4340 3y ago
      More glucose == more brain power /s
- nathanyz 3y ago
  It slows down gastric emptying as one of the primary ways it helps people feel full longer, so there a slew of possible GI side effects (nausea, constipation, diarrhea). In general they are manageable due to being able to adjust dosages to where patients still lose significant weight and minimize the impact of those side effects.
- xnx 3y ago
  Possibly none. These drugs are bringing our appetite under control in an environmental that is full of readily available, appetizing, easy to digest, high-calorie foods.
  - molsongolden 3y ago
    I've seen the benefits of these drugs for people close to me but this whole concept still feels a bit dystopian. Companies selling $500-$1,000/mo drugs to counteract the garbage food and "food products" other companies are producing and marketing to us.
    - bb88 3y ago
      Well... when we were like cave men and calories were hard to get, hunger pangs make more sense from an evolutionary standpoint. But now, through farming technologies, food has never been more abundant. Yes we've saved people from dying of famine, but then the corn producers grew so much more corn that were beyond America's daily dietary need, they then could use much of it for HFCS, say. Or you know, Taco Bell's fourthmeal.
    - Spooky23 3y ago
      In a few years the pill versions will be $40/mo.
derefr 3y ago
Any good studies yet on direct causal factors linking the American diet to (what I presume would be called) glucagon insufficiency?
rs_rs_rs_rs_rs 3y ago
>Obesity is being changed from a willpower problem to a chronic disease that is treatable It's absolutely a willpower problem. These medications won't fix that for you. You stop taking them and you will gain weight again.
- nathanyz 3y ago
  The amount of willpower required to maintain differs from person to person. So yes you can willpower your way to a healthy weight, but the amount of mental energy required is going to vary significantly between people. The drug proves it as it basically flips people with a high willpower requirement to feel more in the normal range where it is easier to eat less.
- belltaco 3y ago
  All forms of contraception are also solving a "willpower problem". Food is even more of a basic need compared to sex, so evolution has it made it so that it's really hard to eat less.
- bb88 3y ago
  Hunger is caused by not enough glucagen-like peptides (GLP-1, etc) being distributed to the brain from the gut. Obesity is not so much a food "addiction" as it is the body's failure to properly regulate it's own fullness. I've heard this called "food noise" by those who are obese. GLP-1 agonists reduce the so called food noise -- that's all it does. In that light your argument is like trying to tell schizophrenics, "Hey, stop hearing those voices in your head!" I think we tried that for over a century.
  - lifty 3y ago
    Fully agree with you. I think the unknown that still remains is why that noise is created. It must be related to modern food processing, besides the abundance of food.
    - bb88 3y ago
      I don't necessarily agree with that premise it's modern food processing. The evolutionary human condition was primarily hunger. Animals fought over food. Humans fought, went to war over it. Nature has been that way for millions of years. So now only in the past 100 years food has become abundant. Do you expect our evolution to change with it to be that quick too? That's really only 4 or 5 generations. One data point here. In the 1700's, 1800's the rich were the ones that were fat, because they were the ones that had the abundance.
jwestbury 3y ago
Should be noted: Basically nothing is a "willpower" problem, in reality. Psychological research is fairly clear on this: People who make good decisions are people who don't even consider the bad decisions, not people who have some higher level of "willpower."

candiddevmike 3y ago

What are the side effects? There's never a free lunch with biological systems...

belltaco 3y ago
Free lunches are part of the problem that led us here in the first place.
- qwertox 3y ago
  It was sugar.
  - Obscurity4340 3y ago
    More glucose == more brain power /s
nathanyz 3y ago
It slows down gastric emptying as one of the primary ways it helps people feel full longer, so there a slew of possible GI side effects (nausea, constipation, diarrhea). In general they are manageable due to being able to adjust dosages to where patients still lose significant weight and minimize the impact of those side effects.
xnx 3y ago
Possibly none. These drugs are bringing our appetite under control in an environmental that is full of readily available, appetizing, easy to digest, high-calorie foods.
- molsongolden 3y ago
  I've seen the benefits of these drugs for people close to me but this whole concept still feels a bit dystopian. Companies selling $500-$1,000/mo drugs to counteract the garbage food and "food products" other companies are producing and marketing to us.
  - bb88 3y ago
    Well... when we were like cave men and calories were hard to get, hunger pangs make more sense from an evolutionary standpoint. But now, through farming technologies, food has never been more abundant. Yes we've saved people from dying of famine, but then the corn producers grew so much more corn that were beyond America's daily dietary need, they then could use much of it for HFCS, say. Or you know, Taco Bell's fourthmeal.
  - Spooky23 3y ago
    In a few years the pill versions will be $40/mo.

derefr 3y ago

Any good studies yet on direct causal factors linking the American diet to (what I presume would be called) glucagon insufficiency?

rs_rs_rs_rs_rs 3y ago

>Obesity is being changed from a willpower problem to a chronic disease that is treatable It's absolutely a willpower problem. These medications won't fix that for you. You stop taking them and you will gain weight again.

nathanyz 3y ago
The amount of willpower required to maintain differs from person to person. So yes you can willpower your way to a healthy weight, but the amount of mental energy required is going to vary significantly between people. The drug proves it as it basically flips people with a high willpower requirement to feel more in the normal range where it is easier to eat less.
belltaco 3y ago
All forms of contraception are also solving a "willpower problem". Food is even more of a basic need compared to sex, so evolution has it made it so that it's really hard to eat less.
bb88 3y ago
Hunger is caused by not enough glucagen-like peptides (GLP-1, etc) being distributed to the brain from the gut. Obesity is not so much a food "addiction" as it is the body's failure to properly regulate it's own fullness. I've heard this called "food noise" by those who are obese. GLP-1 agonists reduce the so called food noise -- that's all it does. In that light your argument is like trying to tell schizophrenics, "Hey, stop hearing those voices in your head!" I think we tried that for over a century.
- lifty 3y ago
  Fully agree with you. I think the unknown that still remains is why that noise is created. It must be related to modern food processing, besides the abundance of food.
  - bb88 3y ago
    I don't necessarily agree with that premise it's modern food processing. The evolutionary human condition was primarily hunger. Animals fought over food. Humans fought, went to war over it. Nature has been that way for millions of years. So now only in the past 100 years food has become abundant. Do you expect our evolution to change with it to be that quick too? That's really only 4 or 5 generations. One data point here. In the 1700's, 1800's the rich were the ones that were fat, because they were the ones that had the abundance.

jwestbury 3y ago

Should be noted: Basically nothing is a "willpower" problem, in reality. Psychological research is fairly clear on this: People who make good decisions are people who don't even consider the bad decisions, not people who have some higher level of "willpower."