Thread

1. krisroadruck · 1790993093 · focus · HN ↗

   Reporting on these drugs is so bad. Most of the benefits AND downsides they keep reporting are the same for any major rapid weight loss. Be it hair shedding or sleep apnea resolving. They keep acting like these are novel drug specific side effects rather than weight-loss related side effects.

   1. chis · 1790993547 · focus · HN ↗

      At this point it might legit be impossible for a side effect to be discovered that outweighs the immense health benefits of losing weight.

      It feels like people want there to be some horrible side effect to these drugs. Idk if it’s some moral objection to weight loss without discipline, or just general mistrust of big pharma.

      1. crooked-v · 1790994165 · focus · HN ↗

         It's absolutely the moral thing. Even on HN there are an endless number of people who treat the use of GLP-1s as a failure that must be publicly shamed.

         1. imustbeevil · 1791004124 · focus · HN ↗

            That's because people are recommending them for long term use, and treating them like some miracle cure, when the only affect is appetite suppression. If you are malnourished for years, you're just going to die. These things are useful for a few months if you really, really have no willpower and don't want to develop any. For anyone else (most people), it's much healthier to learn how to do difficult things.

            Yes, there absolutely is a sense of "it was hard for me, but I did it anyway, you should do the hard thing too". But that's not out of nowhere. Willpower is a muscle. If someone never exercises it, it's going to atrophy. It doesn't need to be shameful, but people who promote these things need to seriously consider the reality that most people's hunger is caused by something real, and just not being hungry does not solve any of those underlying problems.

            My mother is a little bit overweight, which is a problem of calories OUT being too low. She doesn't exercise enough. She doesn't have energy to exercise. That's a problem of calories IN being too low. She's taking a GLP-1 now to lose weight. It very exactly does not solve either of those issues. She has less energy. Most of the weight being lost is muscle mass. I think it's despicable that these things were rushed through the medical system. I don't think it's the layman's fault for being manipulated into thinking it's medicine.

            1. Elixir6419 · 1791010237 · focus · HN ↗

               There are a few things here. Developing willpower is a thing. Having depression or other mental health issue is another. It is easy to dismiss it as lack of willpower, but it is a bit more complicated.

               I also don't think you understand how living with kcal deficiency works on the long run. Have a look at the Minnesota starvation experiment. When in deficit for long the mind constantly goes to "what/when are we going to eat?" and it only gets worse from there. It becomes an obsession. It takes over everything. My understanding is that glp-1 reduces that.

               It also helps for people who have too much extra weight, or incapable (waiting for hip replacement, or the elderly) of exercising.

               I have been on diet and managed to go back to the target weight (lost around ~16% of bodyweight) but the food noise was real and constant. It is not a one off "I am not going to eat anymore" that was a decision to be made every minute until next meal came around. I do cycle 10-12 hour a week and the occasional footbal game but finding the deficit that is not causing the food noise is different for everyone.

Unofficial Hacker News client; not affiliated with Y Combinator.