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No such thing as free lunch. Up to the individual to decide whats worse but the "miracle cure" positioning these drugs are enjoying in popular media is troublin

No such thing as free lunch. Up to the individual to decide whats worse but the "miracle cure" positioning these drugs are enjoying in popular media is troubling. https://www.masseyeandear.org/news/press-releases/2024/07/prescription-weight-loss-drugs-linked-to-blinding-condition https://www.masseyeandear.org/news/press-releases/2024/07/pr...

hombre_fatal 2y ago
Human technology is nothing but free lunch after free lunch after free lunch for centuries. And the rate of free lunches is only increasing.
- phmqk76 2y ago
  Very well said.
- consteval 2y ago
  Thank you. "No free lunch" is perhaps my least favorite saying. Free lunch is good. We should strive for free lunch. You can actually make things better with no cost. These days is feels like a good segment of the population is decidedly anti-solution. Doesn't matter what the solution is, they don't want it. They take a "do nothing and hope it works" approach to everything.
  - baby-yoda 2y ago
    IMO "No free lunch" is not anti-solution at all, on the contrary its a problem solving (engineering?) tenet that simply acknowledges there are always trade offs and constraints. Just like any software engineering project can't be expected to do everything for all people with no cost. The "magic pill of health" aura that surrounds these new drugs is clearly opaque in terms of what the trade offs are, partly because its still way too early to know. Back to my original post, there is some evidence of risk of going blind as a result from taking Ozempic et al. Might be worth the risk for some, even many. I'm fully in support of options and letting people make informed choices. Informed being the key word here. It will take time for things to shake out, I do hope there is a net positive since we are talking about millions of people after all.
malfist 2y ago
Your study you linked compares the diabetic population taking GLP-1s against a healthy population. Of course they're going to find more eye problems in the diabetic population, diabetes damages the eye. Correlation does not imply causation. Especially this one.
- baby-yoda 2y ago
  From the article: "The researchers compared patients who had received prescriptions for semaglutide compared to those taking other diabetes or weight loss drugs. Then, they analyzed the rate of NAION diagnoses in the groups, which revealed the significant risk increases." I don't interpret it at all as you do - if they're taking "other diabetes or weight loss drugs" they're clearly not part of the "healthy population".

hombre_fatal 2y ago

Human technology is nothing but free lunch after free lunch after free lunch for centuries. And the rate of free lunches is only increasing.

phmqk76 2y ago
Very well said.
consteval 2y ago
Thank you. "No free lunch" is perhaps my least favorite saying. Free lunch is good. We should strive for free lunch. You can actually make things better with no cost. These days is feels like a good segment of the population is decidedly anti-solution. Doesn't matter what the solution is, they don't want it. They take a "do nothing and hope it works" approach to everything.
- baby-yoda 2y ago
  IMO "No free lunch" is not anti-solution at all, on the contrary its a problem solving (engineering?) tenet that simply acknowledges there are always trade offs and constraints. Just like any software engineering project can't be expected to do everything for all people with no cost. The "magic pill of health" aura that surrounds these new drugs is clearly opaque in terms of what the trade offs are, partly because its still way too early to know. Back to my original post, there is some evidence of risk of going blind as a result from taking Ozempic et al. Might be worth the risk for some, even many. I'm fully in support of options and letting people make informed choices. Informed being the key word here. It will take time for things to shake out, I do hope there is a net positive since we are talking about millions of people after all.

malfist 2y ago

Your study you linked compares the diabetic population taking GLP-1s against a healthy population. Of course they're going to find more eye problems in the diabetic population, diabetes damages the eye. Correlation does not imply causation. Especially this one.

baby-yoda 2y ago
From the article: "The researchers compared patients who had received prescriptions for semaglutide compared to those taking other diabetes or weight loss drugs. Then, they analyzed the rate of NAION diagnoses in the groups, which revealed the significant risk increases." I don't interpret it at all as you do - if they're taking "other diabetes or weight loss drugs" they're clearly not part of the "healthy population".