The blockbuster weight loss drug sold as Ozempic and Wegovy [has, on 21 March, gone] generic in countries that are home to 40 percent of the world’s population, significantly lowering the price of a costly medicine that had been largely unaffordable to nearly all but the wealthiest people. On Saturday, Novo Nordisk, the company that until now has had a monopoly on selling the drug, will lose patent protection in several of the world’s most populous countries. The first generic versions are expected to arrive in India as soon as this weekend. In the coming months, the generics are also expected to become available in China, Canada, Brazil, Turkey and South Africa.


Agreed. What most people don’t realize is that meds can, and do, have HUGE complications too.
Agreed. The structural solutions, including brain stim, give a significant period of opportunity for learning better habits - for people who actually want to lose the weight and keep it off it can get them “over the hump” into a pattern that doesn’t relapse. Just like opiate addiction, there are things that take significant time for your body/mind to get out of the habit with food, and any addictive behavior really.
Of course if you’re determined to live a life of gluttony, these things are all temporary - even more temporary than life itself.
You could just not assume that? It’s not about determination, as you said, it is an addiction. The root cause is not a food addiction, we literally need food to survive, but that root cause is different for every person and unless you are that same person you just don’t assume shit about intentions or determination.
There’s a large grey area between determination and uncontrollable addiction.
Very true. Some “diet aides” work well, some help a little, most barely work at all. Then there’s the influence of environment - how likely a gambling addict is to relapse can be strongly influenced by whether they live in Las Vegas or Salt Lake City. Heroin addicts in Seattle have a much harder time kicking the habit there than in Atlanta.
As for food, do you eat socially? In restaurants? My wife and I have started taking the “Senior Citizens’ discount” on restaurant food by simply ordering one entree and sharing it instead of overstuffing ourselves on separate dishes.
All these factors come into play, and still some people in the US are avoiding obesity, but not many - and IMO that’s down to the food / social / economic environment we live in here - it’s not healthy, but it is good for the medical business.