Talk about perverse incentive.
Isn’t this backwards? Obesity is probably one of the very top health epidemics we’re facing. Rare diseases aren’t.
Rare diseases are not solved, you die or have lifelong quality of life issues. Collectively, they aren't that rare.
The brass tacks are:
1. Estimates for the cost of obesity globally are somewhere around 2 trillion dollars.
2. Telling people to diet and exercise usually did not get them to lose weight
3. Giving people semaglutide does get them to lose weight
So many people in my life who were unhappy and struggling with their weight are now happy because semaglutide worked where advice about diet and exercise did not. I can't imagine most rare disease drugs will have that level of impact.
And what is more you will not be healthy at 80 years old living otherwise sedentary life with ozempic keeping the weight you should be carrying off. You will have no muscle mass. You will be frail and in poor health compared to your peers who cultivated and maintained muscle mass through their life. You will not only have a weak body but your organ health will be in decline. You will have weak lungs and heart. This is going to make medical intervention at the end of your life all the more complicated. Make it difficult for you to survive from things.
Now imagine how much of the world might change if we solved the issue of "uninformed people failing to listen to expert advice." I imagine we'd meet all our climate goals and pollution goals in a generation if not less.
It takes time and money to ensure a healthy diet. Exercise takes up a massive amount of time and energy. People who are struggling to make ends meet can't afford these things. Tolerance of discomfort isn't unlimited and people don't have infinite willpower. We are pushed to spend all that tolerance and all that willpower at work.
These drugs let you buy tolerance of discomfort at a discount, so you can spend more of it at work.
My experience is that people generally are already doing their best. They don't need "more willpower" or more threats. They need tools, support, and less things asked of them.
What about HIV? That's solved too: just never have sex!
Medicine and public health are so easy. As soon as we know how to prevent something, 100% of people will do it!
- cures (not treats, but cures for a lot of people) obesity and diabetes
- lowers rates of heart disease
- reduces the risk of various cancers
- may help with addiction
...just because you can also diet to reduce obesity. If it were that easy, people would do it. No one enjoys being obese. There are a million complex factors that cause it, and some of them are genetic.
Nearly 100% of people suffer from a disease that would be helped by GLP-1's at some point in their lives. Maybe it won't be useful for all those people because of efficacy or side effects or whatever, but every dollar that goes into them gets us back far, far more years of human life than researching rare diseases.
And hey, if you want a little test/anavar/tren to spice up your GLP, you can get that in the same order!
Reta is a triple agonist that is basically Triz + glucagon. Bodybuilders love it because it'll repress appetite but also burn fat. As for why they're cheaper, it's because the Chinese will manufacture them for cheaper than the pharma companies, not slap a tremendous markup on them, and then sell the raw powder to the steroid sites.
ReptileMan•3mo ago
vitorgrs•3mo ago