Sky does an article on Wegovy and Cardio health

[Suff]

The Article talks about a study by Novo Nordisk. But no link to the study, comments closed and only a twitter (X) handle to discuss.

Interesting facts. If you have a cardio condition, take blood thinners or BP medication, no chemist in England will sell it to you. None of these are on prescription in England so far as I can determine.

So how did they do the study????

[Kaz]

In another country, I assume?

[Workingman]

More than 17,600 adults over the age of 45 in 41 countries took part in the five-year study...

A bit of a clue?

It has been known for years that reducing weight and exercising a little for those who are obese cuts down the risk of cardiovascular events and strokes. No need for the NHS to prescribe super-expensive drugs.

[Suff]

It has been known for years that reducing weight and exercising a little for those who are obese cuts down the risk of cardiovascular events and strokes. No need for the NHS to prescribe super-expensive drugs.

For those who have been severely overweight for a long time, the reality of weight loss is stark. Simply put the body fights very hard to hang onto that weight. It takes a very structured life and a dedication to weight loss over a period of years to lose this kind of weight.

Semaglutide kills the appetite, slows down the digestive system and fires up the sugar consuming portion of the body. It allows people to lose weight and forces the body to comply, whether it wants to or not. I'm seriously pissed that they failed to get my pills to me on time (I chose pills because I was going to Canada for 2 weeks and a liquid pen that required constant cooling would not work. After week 1 I lost most of the effect. After week 2 I was starving (still am in fact).

I will have to start again when I get back and get the pills. But I have the confidence that when I do get them I will be able to easily and simply lose weight.

It is all very well saying "It is your fault because you didn't exercise enough and diet". People who have this level of problem need help. Preaching and pontificating is not help. Also I screwed my knees back in 2020. In November it will be 3 years. Whilst they are slowly healing, I still can't exercise and, even then, I do more hard physical exercise than most obese people. The one thing guaranteed to work is not eating very much. Semaglutide makes this easy.

Given the literally HUGE shopping list of ailments being treated by the NHS on a daily basis, all driven by obesity, I'd say it was a cheap fix.

[Kaz]

It is certainly cheaper (and safer) than bariatric surgery.

[Workingman]

There are about 12 million obese people - children and adults - in the UK.

Very few are going to get this treatment, just like very few get bariatric surgery. At about £1,100 per patient per month it is just too expensive except for those who are morbidly obese and with other complications. The vast majority of those who are obese will have to use something else - diet and exercise?

Unfortunately when "exercise" is mentioned people start to think about the gym, jogging, spin classes etc. and that quite literally puts people off. The give up before they have begun. It's a shame because a few short, brisk walks, every day is all it takes.

It's the same with diets. People immediately think of rabbit food and salads morning, noon, and night. It does not have to be like that. A balanced diet that is about 250 - 300 calories less than normal per day is barely noticeable, day by day, but it is a day's worth of food per week less.

It is a slow process, but it is drug free and it works.

[Suff]

It is a slow process, but it is drug free and it works.

Most people don't have the focus. Also if you try that, one good Indian will undo 6 weeks of work. The most I've lost is 57lb in one go. I was totally starving for the last 3 months and in the last 3 months I lost less than in the first 3 months.

Using this medication can bolster the loss. You can lose the same weight but have no hunger. I put all the 57lb back on. It took 6 months but it was driven by boredom, poor work environment, stress and a lack of structured food times due to my work. Plus living in hotels.

With Semaglutide I could have done this without hunger, without the need to go and get food just because it was there and also keep it up for 1 year or 2 years as required.

My brother lost over 9 stone. It took him 2 years and it was 2 years of intense diet. 14 to 16 hour fasting and a focus which would shame a Buddhist monk. He is also a maniac for logging every aspect of his diet. At one point he took in exactly the same food, no variation, the same exercise and the same fasting. Absolutely nothing different. For 14 weeks he lost not one single lb in weight. Then, suddenly, on exactly the same regime, he started to lose weight again.

Never tell me that morbidly obese people can simply lose weight by dropping a few calories and going for a walk. Every other month I do 10,000 steps every day, as many as 2,000 of them on stairs. 3 hours a week day and 8-10 hours on a weekend day I do heavy physical activity. I don't lose one single lb unless I strictly reduce my intake of food. Which means going hungry. On the other month I often do 10,000 steps or more but I don't do the same heavy physical activity.

I will step on the scales tomorrow and find out how much damage 2 weeks without my diet pills/injections, has cost me in weight gain. Granted I was on holiday and my daughter we went to see was determined I'd eat more than I wanted.

Roll on Sunday when I get my pills.

[Workingman]

You forgot the cost.

It is out of reach for most individuals as research shows that most people who are obese are also lower earners - they eat calorie dense cheap meals - and they do it for a pupose. So the cost will fall to the NHS... and is unaffordable for it as well.

It is good, but it is no obesity silver bullet for the majority.

I hope it works for you, though.

[Suff]

Thanks for the thought WM.

I Don't forget the cost. But it is manageable. It is not like it costs £200 per week. For the NHS the cost of failing with obesity is often massive. So it is a balance.

As with most new drugs price is relative to the cost to supply and the volume being consumed. Should the volume wind up being 100x projections, then price will fall in line with the increased volumes. Government's will not allow that level of profiteering if pieces do not fall.

In England it is not prescription so the NHS angle is not there.

One other thing it is good for is avoiding diabetes. Something which is also consuming NHS funding.

[Workingman]

Not a magic pill
Research on GLP-1s has shown that weight regain is very common once the medication has been stopped if the person hasn’t implemented sustainable lifestyle changes.

One showed that individuals taking semaglutide lost an average of 17.3% of their body weight after 68 weeks. However, one year after the medication had stopped, they regained 11.6% of their lost weight.

Essentially, your body becomes reliant on the medication to manage your appetite.

If you haven’t made the right changes to your lifestyle before you come off the medication, your appetite and old eating habits will return, and you’ll likely regain much of the lost weight.

I did say that. You alluded to it in your second post...

In England it is not prescription so the NHS angle is not there.

But it will be...

The NHS has also recently that Wegovy has been approved for prescription via your GP if you meet specific criteria such as a BMI of over 35.

That's where most people will be trying to access Wegovy. For many it is the only financially viable way - they cannot afford it OTC. See below.

It is not like it costs £200 per week.

No, it costs £99 per week at the 0.25mg dose and rises month on month to the maintenance dose of 2.4mg in month five. As it has only just become available for sale in the UK I cannot find prices for the intermediate doses unless I am prepared to hand over patient details to the sellers - I am not going to do that.