Those who are well into the obese category (meaning they are clearly qualified for the drug) are never going to become slim on the GLP-1 type drugs anyway - the maximum they lose on those drugs is about 20% of their starting weight over the course of 72 weeks. So if someone whose ideal weight is 150 lbs weighs 250 lbs, they're still going to be 50 lbs overweight and still in the obese category at the end of those 72 weeks (16 months)

There's also the issue of continuing to lose ENOUGH weight on the drugs for the insurance to continue to pay for it. If they're not seeing enough weight loss to warrant the continued cost, then they won't pay for it any more. If the individual can't afford to pay out of pocket, they end up quitting the drug, and since they never learned how to eat a reduced amount of food on their own (or eat the kinds of food that naturally reduce hunger levels), the weight comes back on. How quickly it comes back on depends on what kind of self control (white-knuckling it through the hunger) they can manage and for how long they can manage it.


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I don't know if this belongs in this thread or not, but I read an article a couple of days ago in The Atlantic about how the current weight loss drugs don't work for everyone.

https://www.theatlantic.com/health/...ht-loss/677411/

(I can post a link, but as soon as I'd read the article, it said that was my last free article, so I can't read it again or quote it unless I'm willing to put up the money for a subscription. I've tried different browsers including a new incognito/private window and they all say the same thing.)

From what I'd heard months ago, all GLP-1 patients start out at the lowest dosage, and many people feel no effects from such a low dosage at all. Dosages are only increased once a month, and it can take a couple of months of increased dosages to reach a therapeutic dose where their appetite is affected enough to start losing weight.

According to the article though there are apparently people who the drug simply doesn't work for them at all, no matter how high the dosage.

However, they said there are a lot more weight loss drugs in development.

They didn't find this the least bit alarming, because there are drugs for many conditions that have have dozens or even hundreds of options to try, since not every drug works for every person. The one they specified as an example was blood pressure medication, and there were hundreds (or did it say thousands?) to choose from. If one doesn't work, they try another, and keep trying until they find one that works to reduce blood pressure to a normal level.

The point is that the current GLP-1 and PYY drugs are only the beginning. As they learn more about how to manipulate the body's response to foods, they'll develop more and more drugs that restrict appetite without the individual needing to actually change what they eat, or intentionally reduce how much they eat, since the drugs themselves result in them eating significantly less.