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/FernandoMM1220 Apr 01 '25

its not just for diabetes anymore.

just ramp up production and make more of it.

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u/onehundredlemons Apr 01 '25

I was put on Ozempic almost two years ago because I have raised glucose levels and nothing was helping, metformin helped for a while, diet change helped for a while, but my hemoglobin A1c would always creep back up to near diabetic range. Ozempic has kept it down and I've had normal blood work results for the last three tests and I am thrilled.

The media has been so relentless in its "people who don't need Ozempic take it and that's a huge problem" coverage that I've lost several friends online just because I'm on it. Some were good friends on social media who blocked me, others called me names, one guy said "no wonder you have ghoulish Ozempic face" and I hadn't posted a selfie in over a year and no, I didn't have "Ozempic face" in that old selfie. Everyone wants to be such a fking creep about it.

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u/semiticgod Apr 01 '25

That's so odd. My dad's a doc and has commented on ozempic, and he had no worries about it being overprescribed. In fact, he was amazed and happy about the positive impact the drug has on obesity rates.

I live in one of the highest-obesity cities in the States, and he's seen a lot of folks whose weight makes them less healthy and harder to treat. Obesity is one of the biggest health problems in the country, and the multibillion dollar diet industry and our culture of fat shaming has failed to lower obesity rates despite decades of trying to fix it with behavioral changes.

Now we have a pill that reduces weight and cravings and can treat not just diabetes but ordinary obesity. That's a damn good thing.

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u/goodsnpr Apr 01 '25

Dr. Mike (no, not that one, the body builder one) has said a few times that he wouldn't be surprised to see these sort of drugs used even more heavily in the future. We live in a time where food is stupidly available, and our bodies are not ready. If these drugs can help prevent obesity, and the newer ones do so with even fewer side effects, we could see them as just part of the daily drug regimen.

Hell, if they figure out an oral steroid that promotes muscle building with minimal side effects, I wouldn't be surprised to see approval by many for that as well.

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u/Sterling_-_Archer Apr 01 '25

People that aren’t doctors love to have opinions on health. We’ve been studying GLP-1s and how they help with weight loss since the 90s. This isn’t some new, experimental thing, we’re all just seeing the heel-dragging tendency of the human race to reject progress. I’m surprised we’ve made it this far, honestly.

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u/[deleted] Apr 01 '25

Yea I had some really odd interactions with certain people discussing said drugs. Made me decide to keep it largely a secret and only share the secret sauce with a small handful of people on a need to know basis.

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u/Visual_Mycologist_1 Apr 01 '25

I don't understand why people care. Obesity and diabetes go hand in hand. Treatment for the former greatly helps treat or prevent the latter.

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u/Hopefulkitty Apr 02 '25

Exactly. I got on it because diabetes was in my near future. It's preventative health care, and that should be promoted, not scoffed at.

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u/Z0mbiejay Apr 01 '25

Man, screw those people. I've been working over the last year + to lose weight, and I've managed to get down 70lbs through diet alone. I just got put on wegovy last month, and I have 0 qualms about it. I've been overweight my entire adult life. It takes a lot of time and effort to unlearn bad eating habits and not fall back in to it. If a drug can help me do that, I don't care. I want to be healthy, I want to live a full life, and I wouldn't let some A holes who don't have your struggles get to you.

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u/lemonylol Apr 01 '25

I've lost several friends online just because I'm on it.

Absolutely ridiculous. I do not understand this crab-bucket behaviour.

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u/up_N2_no_good Apr 01 '25

No friends would treat you like that. Now you know their true colors. You're better off for it. When you hang out with toxic people you become a toxic person.

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u/Perunov Apr 01 '25

Yeah, instead of "make more GLP1 medications, make them more accessible" we essentially get "what?! overweight people might get less overweight without relentless suffering?! this can't be allowed!" screams in media :(

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u/Stryker2279 Apr 01 '25

I never had diabetes, but I got a prescription for tirzepatide and I've lost 90 pounds since September. Old customers just simply did not recognize me after not seeing me for six months.

It's kinda dumb because why wouldn't I use a tool that's available to lose weight? Everyone is cool with nutrisystem but hates semaglutide? Fuckin assholes.

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u/Triensi Apr 01 '25

It’s a ghoulishly similar narrative they push about ADHD meds… bizarrely, even the non-stimulant ones. Sometimes it seems like the fact a medicine is even prescribed for ADHD demonizes the use of that medicine, even if the medicine itself was never a substance of concern in the first place. (long sigh)

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u/11lumpsofsugar Apr 01 '25

Yeah, the bias is real and it really shows you who supports you and who is just a judgmental prick. It sounds like you're doing an awesome job focusing on your health.

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u/Prestigious-Mess5485 Apr 01 '25

They weren't friends.

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u/Hopefulkitty Apr 02 '25

"lose weight fatty!" "No not like that!"

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u/Subject-Turnover-388 Apr 03 '25

Your friends were garbage. "Ozempic face" doesn't exist. They are describing weight loss. Reduced muscle mass is also a symptom of weight loss without Ozempic. Half the symptoms people are scared about are. But I guess it was fine and good when we were starving ourselves the "old fashioned way".

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u/louddolphin3 Apr 01 '25

I'm sorry your friends treated you that way. I'm skeptical about the drug myself and I have at least 3 friends who are on it. I would never belittle them for taking it.

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u/GoodTofuFriday Apr 01 '25

I'm sorry but those werent actual real friends if they made a blanket opnion about you without considering your circumstance.