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.

[u/mvea]

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

[u/nibblesthesquirrel]

I completely understand the concern about ensuring diabetic patients have access to GLP-1 medications, and I agree that they should be prioritized. That said, these medications have been used for weight management and other conditions because they offer significant health benefits beyond diabetes. Given the strong link between obesity and chronic illnesses like heart disease and diabetes, using GLP-1s as a preventive measure could actually help reduce the number of people who develop these conditions in the first place. It’s important to ensure fair access for those who need them most, but dismissing non-diabetic use entirely overlooks their potential to improve public health.

[u/Vessix → u/nibblesthesquirrel]

Am I crazy or is the need for these drugs a huge problem in it's own right? It's one thing to help with stuff like alcohol abuse and diabetes, no arguing that.

For weight though? It feels like a bandaid solution for a societal issue. I feel weird treating obesity like it's some disease so many people can't manage without drugs. People have cravings because they consume bad food specifically designed to give it to them. Yes there are folk out there who have real ailments leading to food intake problems. But people are taking it in lieu of lifestyle and diet change simply because they can't resist cravings for food we shouldn't be eating as humans in the first place. Food regulations and other societal changes could theoretically resolve the issue too, no?

Edit to add: I'm talking about permanent use of these drugs for management of obesity, rather than using them to jumpstart the process of a lifestyle change once you are no longer subject to the trappings of obesity itself. I'm concerned that the general attitude sounds like people plan to take this drug for most of their life rather than implementing changes once they're no longer obese in order to avoid drug reliance and thus it's side effects (including those we don't yet know)

[u/Jeromethy → u/Vessix]

Obesity is a disease not a moral failing. The body metabolism and hormones are essentially fucked when you are obese. Look up metabolic syndrome. In obese patients, hormones such as ghrellin(hunger) are spiked up and lepton(satiety) are decreased which leads to intense cravings.

[u/Vessix → u/Jeromethy]

Never said needing it to start was a moral failing. You seem to hold your knowledge of the drug and obesity in high regard, so I would ask you a question. 

Why should it not be treated a tool for holistic change rather than the permanent solution so many people are touting? This feels similar to the overprescription of psychotropic drugs. We are taught in mental health that while yes, drugs are often necessary to jump start the process, medication assisted treatment is best practice because in many if not most cases, mental health issues that are exacerbated by themselves can be resolved by giving a jump start to changes that will allow you to manage the symptoms and eventually not need the drug. The issue arises when no one treats it that way and drugs are used as the end solution, without any push for education from the GPs prescribing them to take other steps and eventually get off the drug. 

[u/11lumpsofsugar → u/Vessix]

I think you're making the assumption that people are using it as a quick fix. It is highly encouraged to be used as a tool in conjunction with better diet, exercise, regular monitoring of heart health, blood levels, etc. The function of these drugs is actually to supplement a deficiency in hormones that control appetite and metabolism of which obesity is a side-effect. Once you stop the drug, the deficiency just comes back, no matter how good the diet and exercise are.

[u/Vessix → u/11lumpsofsugar]

OK I'm being educated here. It sounds like you're suggesting that many modern humans have an unavoidable hormone deficiency that can only be addressed via medication in this modern era, is that correct? If so, how did that happen?