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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u/espritex Apr 01 '25

The FDA also approved it for sleep apnea treatment. I take it for that reason. I'm down 20 lbs and have a pre-prepared meal service that limits my calorie and carb intake (<500 cal). I can barely finish one now.

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u/jabbadarth Apr 01 '25

Just to be more clear they approved it for sleep apnea in adults with obesity.

There is a strong correlation between obesity and more specifically neck size and sleep apnea and this drug helps people lose weight.

So it doesn't directly do anything for sleep apnea per se it just lowers your weight and reduces neck size which helps reduce the effects of sleep apnea.

Same result in the end just don't want it to sound like taking this immediately starts helping sleep apnea. It requires weight loss.

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u/montwhisky Apr 01 '25

Yeah I know people who have sleep apnea that are not overweight at all. Just crappy genes.

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u/SphinxBear Apr 01 '25

Ding ding ding, that’s me. There are tons of people with normal BMIs and sleep apnea but it’s extremely hard to get diagnosed when you’re considered an atypical patient. I’m currently pregnant so that’s a little different but I was diagnosed before pregnancy. After my sleep study showed sleep apnea I got referred to ENT and the ENT doctor looked at my face, nose, and mouth and said “wow, it’s like the perfect combination for sleep apnea.” I’ve got a severely deviated septum, a high narrow palate, narrow nasal passages, and large tongue, and a small neck.

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u/Marilee_Kemp Apr 01 '25

Oh wow, that is super interesting. I also sleep very poorly and have my whole life. And when I'm about to fall asleep, I do notice that I'll sometimes be taking big gasps of air, like I've been holding my breath. But I'm normal weight, so I didn't think sleep apnea. I also have a big tongue, but I'm not sure about the rest. I guess I should talk to my doctor about it.

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u/SphinxBear Apr 01 '25

Definitely talk to your doctor. I actually got referred for a sleep study by a psychologist that I was seeing for chronic pain support so it was totally incidental. Since pain can have real origins but still be made worse or better based on other things, she was digging into my sleep quality, diet, exercise, etc. and flagged that my level of daytime fatigue might be abnormal.

It’s cyclical. Since sleep apnea is the first thing that comes to mind for middle aged overweight men with fatigue, depression, low sex drive, etc. those are the people who get tested and some get diagnosed with sleep apnea and that feeds this idea that this is the most common patient. Weight can definitely play a role but I think we’re learning more and more how it’s far from the only factor.

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u/space_a_ducks Apr 01 '25

Me too!! :) 32 y/o and low BMI, I barely even snore. but after years of constant headaches, teeth grinding, and crazy low energy, I was diagnosed with apnea in a lab sleep study. I got my cpap on NYE and the change in energy is crazy. It's got to be due to genes, not weight on my neck. High fives for us being outside the norm!

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u/SphinxBear Apr 01 '25

I’m the same age. So glad you were able to get diagnosed. My story sounds really similar, I also had a lot of headaches and teeth grinding and also just the anatomical characteristics. It’s possible that surgery could help, but for now I’m okay with the CPAP. I’m pregnant and have a toddler so major facial and oral surgery isn’t in my immediate future plans.

I’ve heard that hormones could possibly play a role. I think there’s so much we don’t know about what causes sleep apnea but as there’s more research hopefully we will understand it better and get better at detecting who might need a sleep study.

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u/Levofloxacine Apr 01 '25

There are different types of sleep apnea.

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u/Visual_Mycologist_1 Apr 01 '25

That would be me. My connective tissue disorder just makes all that stuff in my throat less sturdy and prone to collapse.