[OrwellianChild]

It's hugely encouraging that we're starting to see frontline medical practice step out of the frame of mind that this is a "willpower" issue. If GLP-1 analogs work against both food compulsions and alcohol/drug compulsions [1], this re-contextualizes metabolic disorders as another form of addiction.

[1] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10097922/

[melling]

People might want to wait at least a few years before the “large scale study” is completed. Tens of millions of people are about to begin

“ most common Ozempic side effects are nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain and constipation. Serious Ozempic side effects include allergic reactions, changes in vision and pancreatitis. Ozempic has an FDA boxed warning for the risk of thyroid C-cell tumors.”

[fpgaminer]

I think most people should wait, yes. There's a HUGE amount of pressure to get these things approved for weightloss. So most people can just wait and watch a year or two.

But to be clear, these drugs are already approved by the FDA for diabetes, so they've been studied heavily already for safety. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe diabetic people were intended to take this medication long-term. So it would have been studied and assessed for safety in that regime.

Really we're just waiting for studies specifically designed to measure efficacy on weight loss, and for the FDA to assess the specific risk-benefit balance of prescribing this medicine for weightloss. Seeing as how obesity is one of the leading causes of death in modern society, I wouldn't be surprised if the FDA is already leaning towards approving it if it passes efficacy. Which it most likely will; the diabetes studies reported something like 9 in 10 people losing something like 10-20% of their bodyweight? The signal was huge.

[woleium]

I believe the dose for weight loss is significantly higher, so there is room for long term effects not seen on the diabetes trials

[rickydroll]

yup, I got most of those side effects causing me to give up on Ozempic. I might have been willing to eat like an anorexic[1] if my BG dropped to normal range but it didn't.

[1] not making light of anorexia. I mindfully chose that description because that drug will induce disordered eating patterns. I still have days where I refuse to eat because to my BG level and suppress hunger then binge because the hunger is overwhelming.

[toomuchtodo]

While this is a great first step to get populations help immediately, it creates a chronic need for these drugs. Gene therapy must come next to fix root cause.

[tomrod]

I'm curious what the recurrence rate for weight gain. As well as yo-yo use -- perhaps its cost efficient to prescribe it off and on, as desired.