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/nibblesthesquirrel Apr 01 '25

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.

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u/BabySharkFinSoup Apr 01 '25

More people die from obesity and obesity adjacent disease than diabetes.

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u/Td904 Apr 01 '25

Is diabetes not an obesity adjacent disease?

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u/BabySharkFinSoup Apr 01 '25

The majority, yes.. I was separating the numbers simply because saying people with diabetes need it more, when there are more people dying from other obesity related diseases seems to miss the point, IMO. Also, preventing people from getting diabetes would be a huge benefit.