From years of experience the only professionals with less faith in humanity than physicians are likely police officers. Or, perhaps, clergy. 🙂

Rufus T: I first learned about Ozempic’s amazing properties when reading Tony Robbins latest book, “Life Force.” It would seem that type two diabetes has an answer in Ozempic and similar drugs. Robbins even claimed that Metformin, the most commonly used type two diabetes drug, has longevity benefits. It would seem that the medical community would be doing more to study the possibilities of these drugs.

I recognize that the medical community may have a
jaundiced view of the population. My personal doctor once confided in me that too many of his patients did not follow his advice to improve their health. Such things as lose some weight, quit smoking, quit drinking to excess, get some exercise, and don’ts use drugs. It appears they feel like patients are too stubborn and set in their ways to follow their advice. 🙁 Maybe that’s why they decided to go the mandate route with the pandemic rules – low faith in people complying with medical advice.

Back in 1968 there was a song called “Those Were the Days” sung by a Welsh singer named Mary Hopkin. There was a stanza whcih I found to be rather poginant and applies to everyone who gets introspective and melancholy about aging.

“Just tonight I stood before the tavern
Nothing seemed the way it used to be
In the glass I saw a strange reflection
Was that lonely woman really me?”

Clever.

It’s new. Hopefully it is a great aid to diabetes sufferers.

Like me, many of you have likely seen or heard reports of non-diabetics using it for weight loss* (the point of neo’s post). It’s new. Maybe there will be side effects other than a gaunt visage? Perhaps not. However, in its current state users are looking at a lifetime of injections to lose weight and keep it off.

There is an interesting calculus here. Poll doctors and ask them if you could wave a magic wand and get all Americans’ BMI** under 25 what would that mean for illness and medical costs? It would be HUGE! The number of medical conditions caused or exacerbated by overweight are too many to count. Ozempic and its viability aside; if something like a daily, oral pill*** that helped most people maintain a low body weight were discovered what cost would be too great to provide it to everyone?

We would almost certainly see some medical insurers making it available to policy holders. Many employers would do this also, to reduce insurance costs and time missed from work due to illness and surgeries. Would governments mandate it? Nations with socialized medical systems may. Very interesting topic and one that may become a policy issue sooner than we would guess.

*https://variety.com/2022/film/actors/weight-loss-ozempic-semaglutide-hollywood-1235361465/
https://www.newsweek.com/celebrities-hollywood-weight-loss-diabetes-drug-ozempic-1774677

**BMI isn’t an ideal measure. I’m just using it here as a short-hand. There are a lot of different body types and personal preferences.

***It fascinates me how elusive this has been. The human body’s ability to create fat cells and keep those cells stored with lipids is amazing! There are so many mechanisms; even changes in mood and psychology. Evolutionarily it makes sense. For most all of human existence in all lands and cultures starvation was difficult to avoid. It’s not surprising our bodies evolved many ways to get us to eat when food is available, prefer high caloric food over lower calorie options and to not lose weight, once gained. Famine could be one drought or poor hunting season away.

Isn’t the long-term fix simply more sex? Sounds like a win-win.