alt Hacker NewsDo you honestly believe in the so called “free lunch”? I mean there are MANY substances you can presently take that make you feel way better, but always come with a cost or a downside. Why should we believe GLP-1 class drugs are any different?
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Antibiotics are pretty much a free lunch but they exist. Completely stops deadly disease without causing any long term damage. They exist it's just rare
All drugs have side effects and downsides. The question should be if the benefits outweigh the costs, not if the drug is pure magic. Obviously its not pure magic, nothing is, but its still a useful drug.
The point of modern mefivine is that we have drugs that have benefits that outweigh risks and downsides.
Why is this a hard rule?
I know people who have had miraculous benefits from psych meds. No downside. Using them for years. Or if there is a downside it’s massively outweighed by the upside.
We already know the downsides (https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5397288/). The family of drugs has been in use since 2005 for controlling glucose with diabetes. The only new thing is the mass-market use when it turned out to also reduce the physio-mental effects of cravings (food but also apparently other things) in general.
> Do you honestly believe in the so called “free lunch”?
Yes. Why not? A body is a complex biomechanical system, that can be influenced by certain chemicals. Some of them can solve the underlying problem.
Why everything has to be a morality play?
> Why should we believe GLP-1 class drugs are any different?
Why are they any different from, say, antiretroviral drugs? Or from something like statins?
I started the GLP-1 drugs with liraglutide, a predecessor of Ozempic. It works similarly but its half-life is just several hours, so you had to get a daily injection. It has been in use for two decades by now with great results.
It definitely has downsides- it's $$, you have to take a shot every single week, I need to make sure to eat enough fiber now or I will not be regular. But that's a positive lifestyle change anyways- essentially am diligent now to ensure I get fiber every single day!
For me the pros outweigh the cons, I don't obsess over food constantly, my belt size went down and my watch band closed a few notches and even my dental hygienist mentioned last week my face was thinner. Overall it's a huge win.
I pay out of pocket $450 a month for it and it's worth it. The money I saw from no more online shopping habit and no more doordashing or drinking probably breaks even.