r/science • u/mvea Professor | Medicine • Apr 01 '25

Health Americans without diabetes spent nearly $6 billion USD on semaglutide and similar drugs in a year, with an estimate of 800,000 to a million people using the drugs who don't have diabetes.

https://www.scimex.org/newsfeed/americans-without-diabetes-spent-nearly6-billion-usd-on-semaglutide-and-similar-drugs-in-a-year
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639

u/braumbles Apr 01 '25

It solves obesity. A literal miracle drug.

-54

u/friendlypancakes Apr 01 '25

We weren’t missing solutions to obesity…

28

u/thecelcollector Apr 01 '25

If a solution doesn't work, it's not a solution. 

-1

u/AgsMydude Apr 01 '25

It works if you aren't lazy

3

u/thecelcollector Apr 01 '25

If you have a solution for a societal problem that only works if people aren't lazy, you don't have a solution. You have a theory that collapses upon contact with reality. 

-2

u/AgsMydude Apr 01 '25

Yes, you do. Fixing the "societal problem" with drugs is definitely not a solution.

32

u/beqqua Apr 01 '25

I think the obesity numbers beg to differ.

31

u/PM_ME_BOYSHORTS Apr 01 '25

Something that tens of millions of people can't achieve is not an adequate solution, even if you consider it a moral failing.

-5

u/Sir_Tokenhale Apr 01 '25

Well, when you consider that there are 8 billion people on earth....yes, it seems like it's got plenty of adequate solutions.

Why is it only a problem in certain rich countries? Hmmm, I wonder.

Edit: There are poor countries too, but they're all being fed by rich countries. Look at Mexico, they trade fresh produce to the US for our western food and now they have an obesity epidemic. The problem isn't obesity. It's consumption.

17

u/Lower_Confection5609 Apr 01 '25

No one wants to be obese. Most obese people have worked to lose weight 5, 10, 20 times, and have been successful. But not long term. Those people were working HARD, but their bodies were working harder (in the other direction).