[data_spy]

The research says you gain the weight back:

"For the two in every five patients who discontinue the treatments within a year, according to a 2024 JAMA study, this means that they are likely to rebound to their original weight with less muscle and a higher body fat percentage." The other issue is the muscle loss on being on these drugs as "Clinical data shows that 25 per cent of weight loss from Eli Lilly’s shot resulted from a reduction in lean body mass, including muscle, while 40 per cent of Novo Nordisk’s jab was due to a drop in lean body mass." Via https://www.ft.com/content/094cbf1f-c5a8-4bb3-a43c-988bd8e2d...

[JamesBarney]

Sorry I meant with continued use of the treatment you don't regain the weight. I agree if you stop taking the medication your weight will rebound.

[Alupis]

Right, so we doom some portion of the population to forever take a pill from big pharma? How is that acceptable with anyone?

The goal should be to use Ozempic until you are in a better place to manage things yourself. The goal should not be to get people hooked on Ozempic for their entire lives.

Perhaps Ozempic prescriptions should come with prescribed exercise with check-in and monitoring, or something.

[BurningFrog]

I guess young people don't always know this, but there are plenty of medications a lot of people take for the rest of their lives. Blood pressure and cholesterol pills are maybe the most common.

This gives a vast number of people 5-10 years longer lives, and I think this is great thing, even if some pharma executives end up getting rich.

[ido]

Or insulin. I’ve been shortsighted since childhood and will need to wear glasses for the rest of my life (unless I get laser corrective surgery, I guess).

Many people in my wife’s family have thyroid gland dysfunction and have to take thyroid hormones their whole lives.

[Karrot_Kream]

Not just young people. High blood pressure runs in our family. A cousin, despite being healthy in most indicators, developed high blood pressure at 23. She's still going in her 50s just fine but has had to take blood pressure meds for the last 27 years.

[JamesBarney]

> Right, so we doom some portion of the population to forever take a pill from big pharma? How is that acceptable with anyone

This is literally how almost all medicine works that treats a chronic condition.

> Perhaps Ozempic prescriptions should come with prescribed exercise with check-in and monitoring, or something.

Why?

[rootusrootus]

> doom some portion of the population to forever take a pill from big pharma

That is temporary. The effects are real. The fact that you don't think big pharma should profit handsomely for making it happen is not the only alternative. Before too long semaglutide, as one example, will be out of patent and available as a generic. It won't cost a thousand bucks a month to big pharma, it'll be practically free. Cheap enough that most insurance plans will likely subsidize it all the way to zero out-of-pocket cost just because the ROI is so good.

[fragmede]

How my decisions will affect some company's bottom line is way behind "will this help me live a better, longer life" in my list of priorities, but I'm already on other medications that are generic for the rest of my life for other genetic defects I've been blessed with, though I'm not on Ozempic.

[golol]

Why not? What would you rather be: Fat to your death, or healthy and dependent on modern technological society in yet another way? How is it any different to diabetes treatment?

[Tagbert]

I take a statin as something in my body produces high levels of cholesterol even on a low fat diet. I will always take a statin. It works well and there are few side effects.

My spouse must take a thyroid medicine every day for life.

Not taking these pills is life threatening. How is taking them not acceptable?

[lazyasciiart]

Wait til you learn about hormonal birth control.

[s1artibartfast]

Some regain, some don't. Some people have multiple heart attacks.

It is really that simple.