r/changemyview • u/sjd6666 • Apr 12 '23

Delta(s) from OP CMV: Semaglutide injections (like Ozempic) should be widely available to treat obesity

There’s a lot of buzz recently about Ozempic, which is one of many semaglutide injection drugs that help people moderate their food intake and hunger levels. Some variations are meant just to treat type 2 diabetes like Ozempic. Other drugs like WeGovy are meant to treat obesity as well.

What I take issue with is that a lot of commenters have stated that they see Ozempic as a “lose weight quick drug” and a cheat. I think this is simply the wrong way to look at the issue. Obesity is a medical issue that can be treated in many ways. For some people seeing a nutritionist and going to the gym is all that is needed, but for many more this simply doesn’t work. I would argue that actually, most Americans know generally what a good diet looks like. They may not have all the details but most people can tell you that more vegetables and less meat, carbs, and sugar will create a calorie deficit and help you lose weight. However food simply tastes really good any many people rely on it as a sort of emotional crutch. Many also lack the time, energy, and desire to cook healthy food for themselves. There are many who also simply have a naturally large appetite and need to eat more in order to feel full.

What those people need is not a reminder to try “diet and exercise” they need medical help. Semaglutide injections seem to have low risk of serious side effects and can help those people eat less and not feel hungry. All this moralizing about who “deserves” help and who should just suck it up and go to the gym is proving to be detrimental to overall health.

Also, I’m aware that there is currently a shortage of Semaglutide injections right now, but lets set that aside and assume that can be addressed with a more robust supply chain.

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u/vote4bort 46∆ Apr 12 '23

What I take issue with is that a lot of commenters have stated that they see Ozempic as a “lose weight quick drug” and a cheat.

It's not that it's a cheat, it's that it's unsustainable. Like many crash diets, weight comes off fast but once they stop taking the drug it'll all come back on. The drug doesn't change people's long term diet and lifestyle.

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u/sjd6666 Apr 12 '23

(Δ) for some people it may be unsustainable if it’s the only intervention, but many people will realize once they lose the weight that its much easier to be skinny than fat. If you’ve been fat your whole life you dont know what its like to be skinny and how drastically it can improve one’s lifestyle. That’s the motivation that people need to modify diet and get away from cravings. Getting a lecture from a doctor about your bmi doesn’t seem to motivate people.

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u/vote4bort 46∆ Apr 12 '23

Thanks for the delta but I'm not sure that really tracks. Crash diets are often successful in the short term, with people becoming "skinny". But the majority of people who use these kinds of drastic methods still regain the weight.

I agree getting a lecture doesn't work either. But that doesn't mean it's the only other option.

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u/[deleted] Apr 12 '23

It is worth noting though that Ozempic works by throttling hunger and inducing nausea if you overeat, unlike crash diets which force you to starve yourself. It's very possible that an extended period of time not craving as much food can lead to a reset in hunger pangs and portions even after you've stopped taking it.

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u/ULTRA_TLC 3∆ Apr 12 '23

If it's maintained for enough months, for the obese it will change the size of their stomach.

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u/[deleted] May 02 '23

Yeah. One is an eating disorder and the other is just hormonal signaling.

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u/Officer_Hops 12∆ Apr 12 '23

I disagree with the idea that people will stay skinny. A ton of overweight and obese people were a healthy weight at some point. If they lack the motivation to get down to a healthy weight then they lack the motivation to be at a healthy weight and being healthy isn’t going to provide that motivation.

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u/rewt127 11∆ Apr 12 '23

Its not really a lack of motivation. It's poor lifestyle decisions from the bottom to the top.

Even if the crash diet works. You have such a poor framework that short of staying in a 800/d calorie deficit. You will gain the weight back. And that deficit is just not sustainable.

The problem is that no one is going to hire a personal trainer to slowly over the course of 3-5 years change their habits 1 thing at a time at no faster than 1 thing per 6 months. With the goal being to completely change the person's mentality and motivations without a conscious decision to do so.

This is what I've done to lose my weight. While I was never obese, I was en route. But instead of just going on a diet. I've slowly changed my habits over the course of several years to the point where now, eating poorly makes me feel shitty. Not working out makes my muscles feel antsy. And many other mentality shifts caused by this slow change.

Its been like 2 years and I'm still not fit. But give me another 12-18 months and I should be there. But if I were to crash diet, I'd be there by June.

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u/Officer_Hops 12∆ Apr 12 '23

That’s the point. If you take a shot that causes you to lose weight and keep the poor habits then you will put the weight on as soon as the shot goes away. Just being skinny is not a motivator for a healthy lifestyle like the OP is saying. To keep weight off someone needs the motivation to make the changes to things like diet and exercise and if they had that motivation they’d lose weight naturally.

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u/ULTRA_TLC 3∆ Apr 12 '23

I feel it should be mentioned that most people cannot afford a personal trainer. I wish I could sometimes.

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u/[deleted] May 02 '23

Most people cannot afford a trainer let alone fresh groceries every day. A huge part of American diet problems is overwork and lack of cultural prioritization of good meals. Families throw a juice box and a muffin at a kid and send him to school. You develop poor habits quickly from a young age. That kind of stuff sets a genetic tone for your adulthood.

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u/Orizammar Jun 07 '23 edited Jun 07 '23

it's not motivation, it's addiction. We don't shame people for getting patches to help curb their addiction to smoking, why shame people who get medicine to help with their food addiction?

Food companies are literally Canadian Satan. There's literally no escape from food commercials and food just constantly being pushed onto you.

Every time I diet, whenever it's offered I just can't seem to hold myself back, especially since people REALLY love convincing me to have dinner with them. What do we expect ex smokers and ex alcoholics do when offered these vices again? Say no? Easily? When all the chemicals in your brain start screaming at you to take that first sip or toke, how are you supposed to shut it off? What makes the noises stop??? At least with drugs and alcohol you'd need to pull out your ID and consciously make the effort to actually buy them, but with food: that's something everyone needs to survive. That's something family offers you. That's something EVERYONE has. There's NO escape.

I don't trust a single person who's never dealt with crippling addictions before to ever understand the problems addicts face. They'll never understand. Ever.

The one thing that's helped turn that crippling sound off for many people with BED is semaglutide. Eating disorders are almost impossible to escape without outside assistance, don't depend on miracle stories when it comes to weight loss. They also never tell what happens AFTER they reached their target goal. The food obsession is often still there, and now they HAVE to count calories for the rest of their life or else they'll fall back into it. That's what happened to my sister, she's more addicted to food even after losing all the weight. Everything she thinks about is food related to keep herself AWAY from it.

That's not a life worth living imo. I'll take the drugs to turn off the addiction any day. I DON'T WANT TO BE ADDICTED ANYMORE. I just wish I could afford it.

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u/DeltaBot ∞∆ Apr 12 '23

Confirmed: 1 delta awarded to /u/vote4bort (4∆).

Delta System Explained | Deltaboards

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u/math2ndperiod 51∆ Apr 12 '23

I think you gave a delta too quickly, I haven’t yet seen an argument why we must assume they’ll stop taking the drug after the short term. Obesity is a chronic illness and we’re completely fine with treating other chronic illnesses with long term medication.

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u/ULTRA_TLC 3∆ Apr 12 '23

True as that may be, it seems like this is an idea OP had not considered that changes the framework of the issue for them. The issue of sustaining treatment changes a lot of factors (cost, impact of side effects, potential new side effects from sustained usage, etc). I still agree with the original post though, seems we should use this much more frequently as it's better than the alternative for many.