4 ms·

I'm not fat or diabetic. Why would I take ozempic?

sidewndr46 2y ago
Yeah, I'm still kind of confused by this sentiment. There's a cohort that claims metformin somehow extends life as well. I'm pretty sure if a doctor prescribed me Ozempic that'd be grounds for malpractice.
- AstralStorm 2y ago
  It does. But not exactly in healthy humans by any sizable amount. Works pretty well for diabetics and prediabetics, and in cases of PCOS. Otherwise the effect is rather small and depends on prevention of diabetes and a few kinds of cancer. It has a side effect of reducing muscle gains from exercise. As for life extension by GLP-1 active drugs, it's much more of a guess. Mechanism is relatively similar. Side effects might not be...
jprete 2y ago
Ozempic seems to have a large number of positive effects for virtually everyone. It's a little premature to think everyone will be on it "soon" and there are plenty of people who won't take something even if it's universally beneficial.
- AstralStorm 2y ago
  Not that many. Probably less than or similar to metformin. For the silly cost, it's not very effective at extending life. And there are potential bad side effects too.
- oldpersonintx 2y ago
  [dead]
- throwway120385 2y ago
  Yeah why would I take a pill if I can get the same effect through discipline and hard work? I understand not everyone can do that but if I can it would be absurd for me to take a drug for the rest of my life. Especially when I enjoy the work involved in changing my weight and body composition. If a doctor tried to push that on me I would fire that doctor.
  - rajamaka 2y ago
    Because you already take many modern shortcuts and conveniences to avoid hard work, why not take this one?
    - nradov 2y ago
      Taking a medication with potentially severe side effects (including perhaps some that we haven't found yet) is hardly equivalent to using a machine to wash my clothes.
      - Scoundreller 2y ago
        Iunno, I don’t think the side effects of a washing machine have been studied at all. We’re really flying in the dark there.
    - throwway120385 2y ago
      Because at its core it changes who I am. I had a really bad experience on SSRIs as a teenager, and those were also pitched to me as "low to no side effects." My washing machine isn't going to make me suicidal if I start or stop using it.
  - consteval 2y ago
    > discipline and hard work Well the ozempic helps you do the discipline and hard work. You don't take ozempic, eat everything, and get skinny. No, it makes it easier to diet and exercise. For some they don't need the "motivation". For others, their mind is constantly under attack and pushed to eat, like an addict. For them it can be very helpful.
nostrademons 2y ago
Assuming you're not on drugs or thinking of killing yourself, you're probably not in the cohort that's dragging the life expectancy stats down. Life expectancy is a weighted average (no pun intended), and so it's unusually sensitive to outliers. People who die early drag the average down much more than people who live close to the mean life expectancy. The biggest premature killers of Americans are obesity, drugs, car accidents, and suicide. Anything that addresses one of those causes of death has an outsize effect on life expectancy. There are 100M+ obese Americans. There are about 100,000 overdose deaths per year. Obesity, while not as lethal as drugs or suicide, afflicts 1000x as many patients, and so a treatment for it can have a large effect on the numbers.
- drawkward 2y ago
  >Life expectancy is a weighted average Sure, if all the weights are 1. Where i come from, we just call that an average. >People who die early drag the average down much more than people who live close to the mean life expectancy. This is true of all averages where all weights are the same.
  - nostrademons 2y ago
    I should probably have said the change in life expectancy is a weighted average, weighted by how far you are from the average. If average life expectancy is 80, removing a data point where somebody died at 40 has 8x the effect of removing a data point where somebody died at 75.
    - drawkward 2y ago
      Ok, that makes a lot more sense in light of your argument!
    - cscheid 2y ago
      In case anyone else is curious about the specific term for the concept you are describing, it's https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leverage_(statistics) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leverage_(statistics) (To reproduce exactly the scenario being discussed, you fit a constant-only model to the data using least squares: that gives the average as the best fit. Then, you measure the leverage of each point of interest.)
Mistletoe 2y ago
https://asteriskmag.com/issues/07/how-long-til-were-all-on-ozempic https://asteriskmag.com/issues/07/how-long-til-were-all-on-o... https://www.wired.com/story/the-benefits-of-ozempic-are-multiplying/ https://www.wired.com/story/the-benefits-of-ozempic-are-mult... > Known as GLP-1 agonists, these drugs were originally developed to help control diabetes. But there's increasing evidence that they have other health benefits, beyond controlling weight. They seem to boost heart health, protect the kidneys, improve sleep apnea, and lower the risk of certain obesity-related cancers.
consteval 2y ago
Because statistically it's unlikely you stay that way. If you do, then great.

Yeah, I'm still kind of confused by this sentiment. There's a cohort that claims metformin somehow extends life as well. I'm pretty sure if a doctor prescribed me Ozempic that'd be grounds for malpractice.

AstralStorm 2y ago
It does. But not exactly in healthy humans by any sizable amount. Works pretty well for diabetics and prediabetics, and in cases of PCOS. Otherwise the effect is rather small and depends on prevention of diabetes and a few kinds of cancer. It has a side effect of reducing muscle gains from exercise. As for life extension by GLP-1 active drugs, it's much more of a guess. Mechanism is relatively similar. Side effects might not be...

jprete 2y ago

Ozempic seems to have a large number of positive effects for virtually everyone. It's a little premature to think everyone will be on it "soon" and there are plenty of people who won't take something even if it's universally beneficial.

AstralStorm 2y ago
Not that many. Probably less than or similar to metformin. For the silly cost, it's not very effective at extending life. And there are potential bad side effects too.
oldpersonintx 2y ago
[dead]
throwway120385 2y ago
Yeah why would I take a pill if I can get the same effect through discipline and hard work? I understand not everyone can do that but if I can it would be absurd for me to take a drug for the rest of my life. Especially when I enjoy the work involved in changing my weight and body composition. If a doctor tried to push that on me I would fire that doctor.
- rajamaka 2y ago
  Because you already take many modern shortcuts and conveniences to avoid hard work, why not take this one?
  - nradov 2y ago
    Taking a medication with potentially severe side effects (including perhaps some that we haven't found yet) is hardly equivalent to using a machine to wash my clothes.
    - Scoundreller 2y ago
      Iunno, I don’t think the side effects of a washing machine have been studied at all. We’re really flying in the dark there.
  - throwway120385 2y ago
    Because at its core it changes who I am. I had a really bad experience on SSRIs as a teenager, and those were also pitched to me as "low to no side effects." My washing machine isn't going to make me suicidal if I start or stop using it.
- consteval 2y ago
  > discipline and hard work Well the ozempic helps you do the discipline and hard work. You don't take ozempic, eat everything, and get skinny. No, it makes it easier to diet and exercise. For some they don't need the "motivation". For others, their mind is constantly under attack and pushed to eat, like an addict. For them it can be very helpful.

nostrademons 2y ago

Assuming you're not on drugs or thinking of killing yourself, you're probably not in the cohort that's dragging the life expectancy stats down. Life expectancy is a weighted average (no pun intended), and so it's unusually sensitive to outliers. People who die early drag the average down much more than people who live close to the mean life expectancy. The biggest premature killers of Americans are obesity, drugs, car accidents, and suicide. Anything that addresses one of those causes of death has an outsize effect on life expectancy. There are 100M+ obese Americans. There are about 100,000 overdose deaths per year. Obesity, while not as lethal as drugs or suicide, afflicts 1000x as many patients, and so a treatment for it can have a large effect on the numbers.

drawkward 2y ago
>Life expectancy is a weighted average Sure, if all the weights are 1. Where i come from, we just call that an average. >People who die early drag the average down much more than people who live close to the mean life expectancy. This is true of all averages where all weights are the same.
- nostrademons 2y ago
  I should probably have said the change in life expectancy is a weighted average, weighted by how far you are from the average. If average life expectancy is 80, removing a data point where somebody died at 40 has 8x the effect of removing a data point where somebody died at 75.
  - drawkward 2y ago
    Ok, that makes a lot more sense in light of your argument!
  - cscheid 2y ago
    In case anyone else is curious about the specific term for the concept you are describing, it's https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leverage_(statistics) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leverage_(statistics) (To reproduce exactly the scenario being discussed, you fit a constant-only model to the data using least squares: that gives the average as the best fit. Then, you measure the leverage of each point of interest.)

Mistletoe 2y ago

https://asteriskmag.com/issues/07/how-long-til-were-all-on-ozempic https://asteriskmag.com/issues/07/how-long-til-were-all-on-o... https://www.wired.com/story/the-benefits-of-ozempic-are-multiplying/ https://www.wired.com/story/the-benefits-of-ozempic-are-mult... > Known as GLP-1 agonists, these drugs were originally developed to help control diabetes. But there's increasing evidence that they have other health benefits, beyond controlling weight. They seem to boost heart health, protect the kidneys, improve sleep apnea, and lower the risk of certain obesity-related cancers.

consteval 2y ago

Because statistically it's unlikely you stay that way. If you do, then great.