Every month, I’ll be highlighting Diabetes research that is going on RIGHT NOW! Harvested from different websites, journals and podcasts, I’ll translate them into understandable English and share them with you. Today: Tirzepatide – The Most Effective Weight Loss Wonder Drug Yet About To Arrive and WHAT Does That Have To Do With Diabetes????
“Butsch, of the Cleveland Clinic, said he is hopeful insurance companies will cover tirzepatide. “We’re seeing really for the first time highly effective anti-obesity medications,” he said. “The benefit is real.”
“A review published last year in the research journal Obesity found that health care professionals hold implicit and/or explicit weight-biased attitudes toward people with obesity… Bias and stigma about obesity run rampant throughout the medical community…’It’s evident across all health professionals, including physicians, nurses, dietitians and others,’ said Lisa Howley, an educational psychologist and the Association of American Medical Colleges' senior director of strategic initiatives and partnerships.”
Most of you are aware that there’s a current shortage of certain diabetes drugs – because they’re being prescribed by doctors for use as a WEIGHT LOSS drug for people who are NOT diagnosed with diabetes. “The current shortage of semaglutide (Ozempic), an important diabetes drug, has an unusual origin: too many people without diabetes are taking it.”
THE HECK!?!?!?!?!
So, doctors and producers are diverting a medication THAT CAN SAVE A LIFE because certain people are TOO LAZY TO EXERCISE OR NOT STUFF THEIR FACES AT EVERY BUFFET FROM HERE TO ETERNITY OR WANT TO SPEND TWENTY HOURS A DAY NOT WATCHING THE TV THAT’S ON IN FRONT OF THEM WHILE THEY TEXT AND PLAY PHONE GAMES.
Do I sound a teensy bit judgmental here? I am. I feel I’m entitled, though. First of all, I AM one of those who (used to and still DO sometimes) am too lazy to exercise, LOVE to stuff my face at a buffet, I’ve NEVER spent much time watching TV (even when I was single), and I DO text and play phone games while I’m watching TV or a movie…so, I’m not judging from a point of some sense of superiority.
I sound a LOT judgmental…(just so you know, the other blog I write is called POSSIBLY IRRITATING ESSAYS (https://faithandsciencefiction.blogspot.com/), I admit it.
And the fact is that, I sort of get the idea taking care of obesity BEFORE it becomes a true medical condition manifesting as Type 2 Diabetes: “Dr. Holly Lofton, the director of the weight management program at NYU Langone Health, regularly prescribes the new drugs to her patients but many, she says, are denied coverage by their insurance. ‘Patients tell me that it appears to them as if insurance companies want to wait until they get so sick that they have more of a necessity for a medication,’ she said.” It’s not a documented study, but it’s certainly a perspective of people.
A doctor writing on the Health Harvard tells this joke: “Drug ads often urge you to ask your doctor if a treatment is right for you. But we already know a key piece of the answer for Ozempic: if you don’t have diabetes, don’t ask for a diabetes medicine to help with weight loss. There are better ways to get the help you need to reach a healthy weight if you are overweight or obese. Talk to your doctor about a full range of treatment options.” Of course, the “full range of treatment options” means: diet, exercise, and living a healthy lifestyle”.
It's perhaps my jaundiced perception and possibly irritating opinion that Americans (me included), and the wealthiest of other countries around the world), don’t WANT anything that smacks of NOT being able to do whatever they want; eat whatever and however much they WANT, and living HOWEVER THE HELL THEY WANT TO – and then taking a shot to keep them slim and trim and healthy.
I’ll also point out that there have been NO long-term studies of the effects of drugs like OZEMPIC and the newest drug Tirzepatide if it is used for extended periods of time…because as a dieter myself, I KNOW that once we reach our target weight, we throw the lifestyle out the window and we’re soon right back where we started.
“A phase 3 clinical trial found a high dose of tirzepatide helped patients lose 22.5%, Wegovy and Saxenda reduced body weight by around 15% and around 5%, respectively.” Ozempic will help you lose 10%...so what drug will the TARGET MARKET go for? DUH! The one that has the potential for you to drop 52 pounds and only have to get your shot once a week!
My wife however, notes, that when she used Ozempic to treat her Type 2 diabetes, it made her extremely ill.
I wonder why they don’t put that in the actual commercial? Hmmm…probably because showing someone barfing on TV wouldn’t help to sell their product…[Who me? Sarcastic? Not at all!]
Link: https://www.nejm.org/doi/10.1056/NEJMoa2206038, https://www.healthline.com/health-news/diabetes-the-top-discoveries-and-developments-of-2022, https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/weight-loss-drug-affordability-rcna60422 , https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/what-happens-when-a-drug-goes-viral-202302212892 , https://www.myjuniper.co.uk/articles/expected-weight-loss-on-ozempic#:~:text=About%20a%20third%20of%20people,using%20Ozempic%20for%20weight%20loss.
Image: https://asploro.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/Diabetes-Research_Open-Access.jpg
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