Obesity

April Fools 2023 (this is a GLP-1 receptor agonist post)

/ SupremeCmdr / 6 Comments

Ozempic and a similar drug, Wegovy, are weekly shots you give yourself that cause the body to produce insulin. Insulin lowers blood sugar, slows digestion and makes people feel full. Carter-Williams tried it and was amazed.

“You are not hungry,” she says. “Like, I actually have to set timers to make sure that I do eat, because otherwise you actually forget to eat.”

‘You forget to eat’: How Ozempic went from diabetes medicine to blockbuster diet drug https://www.npr.org/2023/04/01/1166781510/ozempic-weight-loss-drug-big-business

Everyone wants the easy way out. I sometimes forget to eat but not because of a miracle drug. You wonder if those of us wanting to lose weight know you can’t stop taking this drug once you start it.

Patients discontinuing the use of weight-loss drugs such as Wegovy risk regaining their original body weight in about five years, a Novo Nordisk official said on Wednesday.

Novo Nordisk Says Stopping Obesity Drug May Cause Full Weight Regain in 5 Years–https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/990267?src=rss

Side effects?

Just a few https://www.wegovy.com/taking-wegovy/side-effects.html

  • Possible thyroid tumors, including cancer.
  • Inflammation of your pancreas (pancreatitis)
  • Gallbladder problems
  • Increased risk of low blood sugar (hypoglycemia) in patients with type 2 diabetes, especially those who also take medicines for type 2 diabetes such as sulfonylureas or insulin
  • Kidney problems (kidney failure)
  • Serious allergic reactions
  • Change in vision in people with type 2 diabetes.
  • Increased heart rate
  • Depression or thoughts of suicide.

So if you want to lose weight by taking a GLP-1 receptor agonist remember the risks of side effects including the real possibility of having to take a drug that costs up to $1600.00 a month for the rest of your life.

Good luck with that. This joke’s on you.

Dieting: Brain amplifies signal of hunger synapses (in mice)

/ SupremeCmdr / Leave a comment

The researchers put mice on a diet and assessed which circuits in the brain changed. In particular, they examined a group of neurons in the hypothalamus, the AgRP neurons, which are known to control the feeling of hunger. They were able to show that the neuronal pathways that stimulate AgRP neurons sent increased signals when the mice were on a diet. This profound change in the brain could be detected for a long time after the diet.

Max Planck Institute for Biology of Ageing. “Dieting: Brain amplifies signal of hunger synapses: Possible target for drugs to combat the yo-yo effect.” ScienceDaily. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/03/230324135218.htm (accessed March 28, 2023).

Food Addiction

/ SupremeCmdr / 3 Comments

Addiction to Highly Processed Food Among Older Adults — https://www.healthyagingpoll.org/reports-more/report/addiction-highly-processed-food-among-older-adults

Read the press release here – https://ihpi.umich.edu/news/1-8-americans-over-50-show-signs-food-addiction-u-m-poll-finds

Read more about the Yale Food Addiction Scale here – https://sites.lsa.umich.edu/fastlab/yale-food-addiction-scale/

Step 1: I admit I am powerless over pizza.

The picture above is a normal size slice at Benny’s. The tall beer can was strictly in the picture to provide perspective. For more about Benny’s see https://garyskitchen.net/worship-the-whale/.

The Economic Cost of Obesity

/ SupremeCmdr / Leave a comment

CONCLUSIONS: The 2-part models of instrumental variables, which estimate the causal effects of obesity on direct medical costs, showed that the effect of obesity is greater than suggested by previous studies, which estimated only correlations. Much of the aggregate national cost of obesity—$260.6 billion—represents external costs, providing a rationale for interventions to prevent and reduce obesity.

J Manag Care Spec Pharm, 2021 Mar;27(3):354-366.
https://doi.org/10.18553/jmcp.2021.20410

HT to https://www.healthcare-economist.com/2023/02/08/estimating-the-economic-cost-of-obesity/

Diabesity

/ SupremeCmdr / Leave a comment

Strong, consistent evidence shows that managing obesity can delay progression of prediabetes to type 2 diabetes. Obesity management is also highly beneficial in treating type 2 diabetes, based on the degree of weight loss achieved. Losing excess weight improves glycemic control, reduces the need for glucose-lowering medications, can substantially reduce A1C, and can even promote sustained diabetes remission.

Diabesity Clin Diabetes 2022;40(4):392–393 — https://doi.org/10.2337/cd22-0088

Remember, Stay as Thin as You Can as Long as You Can

Millions Suffer – Junk Food Industry Profits

/ SupremeCmdr / Leave a comment

Increased consumption of ultraprocessed foods (UPFs) was associated with more than 10% of all-cause premature, preventable deaths in Brazil in 2019. That is the finding of a new peer-reviewed study in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

Examples of UPFs are prepackaged soups, sauces, frozen pizza, ready-to-eat meals, hot dogs, sausages, sodas, ice cream, and store-bought cookies, cakes, candies and doughnuts.

UPFs have steadily replaced the consumption of traditional whole foods, such as rice and beans, in Brazil.

Millions Suffer as Junk Food Industry Rakes in Profit, by Colin Todhunter — STRAIGHT LINE LOGIC

Here is a link to the original study https://www.ajpmonline.org/article/S0749-3797(22)00429-9/fulltext

What is the Optimal Diet for the Prevention of Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Disease? — The Skeptical Cardiologist

/ SupremeCmdr / 2 Comments

The skeptical cardiologist was asked to give a lecture in July on diet to the cardiology fellows in our training program at Saint Louis University. Needless to say, I didn’t hew to current recommendations from the American Heart Association or the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. For example, these recommendations are still promoting the narrative that…

What is the Optimal Diet for the Prevention of Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Disease? — The Skeptical Cardiologist

Great lecture. Thank you Dr. Pearson.