Semaglutide has created a global buzz since its launch several years ago, thanks to its miraculous ability to help people lose weight. Previously, the only option was to go on a strict diet and exercise, and that didn’t work for most people (as rising obesity rates proved). However, now that’s also changing, thanks to this “antibiotic for fat.”
What’s interesting about semaglutide is the impact it has had on culture, more so than almost any other medicine from the last thirty years, with the possible exception of Viagra. It promises to make even the most incorrigible of eaters skinny, even if nothing else touched their obesity in the past.
“Semaglutide is effective because of the action it has on the body,” explains BMI Doctors. “It mimics the effect of a high-fiber meal, sending out satiety signals from the small intestine, telling the patient not to eat more.”
“But what’s interesting about semaglutide is that it appears to be even more effective than just conventional fiber. Yes, you can put someone on a diet with 90 grams of fiber from whole beans, grains, fruits, and vegetables, but they will often find a way to overeat, even if it means consuming more nuts and dried fruit. But as a medicine, semaglutide just crushes that urge. People really don’t want to eat.”
Previously, losing weight relied on psychology. People had to do it and avoid going to the cupboard or refrigerator in the evening to sate their hunger. However, these narratives that people could force themselves to cut weight began to lose credence in the medical sector over the last few years. Fewer practitioners took them seriously, believing that such concepts and ideas were essentially relics of the past.
Now the focus is much more on the medically-supported methods available. Yes, some people can lose weight by eating less, but that tends to be a minority of people in the modern food environment. The only solution seems to be drugs like semaglutide.
“Semaglutide has had a profound effect on the conversation around losing weight,” BMI Doctors explains. “Previously, there was a social stigma associated with bariatric surgery and similar stomach-stapling interventions. The public often viewed these procedures as shortcuts to a healthy body that revealed the vices of the patient for all to see. Some individuals had to go as far as surgery to overcome their eating problems.”
However, this conversation is changing with the advent of semaglutide-based products like Ozempic and Wegovy. These now enjoy such widespread use and celebrity endorsements that everyone is jumping on the bandwagon and celebrating their existence. This widespread acceptance means that such medications are now in the realm of statins and blood pressure-lowering drugs–these are simply preventative items that people take to substitute for a conventional healthy diet and exercise.
“Given today’s food environment, you can’t blame people for making these decisions,” BMI Doctors explains. “It’s not that people want quick fixes, although that’s part of it. It’s just that they need something that will act as a robust defense against all the advertising and incentives to eat the wrong things. Only a tiny minority of individuals have the requisite willpower to do it, maybe 5 to 10 percent of the population. What is everyone else supposed to do?”
There are of course ethical debates around the use of semaglutide in the clinic. One is the growing role of pharmaceuticals in the wellness trend. Unfortunately, they aren’t always something people can afford. While semaglutide cost is coming down, it still remains quite pricey, which is why celebrities were among the first early adopters of the technology.
There’s also the fact that it hasn’t been around as long as, say, insulin therapy, meaning the effects aren’t known. Clinical trials suggest it is safe and can have positive effects on metabolic health, but we are still only a few years down the line, with much to play for.
Insurance companies are also making things challenging for patients. While semaglutide has the potential to reduce long-term sick care by reducing the number of overweight and obese people, it requires an upfront cost, and many firms simply aren’t willing to include it in their plans. For most, obesity is a “pre-existing condition,” meaning that they won’t pay patients to receive treatment, even if it means lowering their expected long-term costs in the future.
“Insurance companies will soon change their tune when the data comes out,” says BMI Doctors. “It is likely that lowering fat mass will significantly improve margins at these companies by cutting the number of people going to the hospital for diabetes and heart-disease-related problems.”
Whether global supply chains can keep up with demand remains to be seen. Pressures on manufacturers to churn out as many of these drugs as possible is intense, with people willing to spend vast sums of money, if it means they can get the bodies they want. With that said, many of these firms making these medicines have had several years to test and scale, meaning that the potential to get tens of millions of people on these drugs is already largely here.
Looking forward, it is likely that semaglutide will form part of a more general and broader health revolution involving pharmacological wellness solutions. Already, we see this trend playing out in the longevity space, but it could go beyond that to other conditions, including cosmetics.
Governments may also change their policy toward the drug, given its power. Authorities may decide to subsidize its cost while it is under patent to make it accessible to more people, generating benefits today instead of in the future.
For example, there is tantalizing evidence that permitting widespread semaglutide usage would reduce the potential costs of diabetes significantly in the future. Government agencies could plow money into it, allowing people from all walks of life to experience its effects on their bodies.
“Looking forward, it is clear that semaglutide is a part of the future wellness paradigm,” says BMI Doctors. “People just don’t want to eat as much as before, and that’s had an enormous impact.”
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