AIBU to think it's time for the NHS to do itself a favour and make WL injections readily available.

Exactly this. We need to eat on a budget- veggie chilli, Dals, pasta, curries with chicken thighs and veg, in season fruit, porridge, soups etc can all be cooked very healthily and cheaply.

Yes, this happens when you lose weight:

“Is it a fountain of youth… I would say if you’re improving someone’s cardiometabolic health substantially, then you are putting them in a position to live longer and better,” he said.

I know it goes on to speak of reducing inflammation (yet fails to link any of the 'many' studies, there's also language such as theories the author subscribes to, sounds really robust.

Lots of people have a lot of financial interest in these, I'm not saying they don't work but there is nothing to suggest they're a sort of miracle- even if they are, we still don't know the long term effects of non diabetics using it for sustained periods. It works in part by slowing down food passing through the digestive system; we know from decades of lots of research that the longer food is passing through, the higher the risks of certain things. Lots of people also just eat processed crap just in smaller quantities.

No. There has not been enough research into side effects. Plus the NHS wasn't set up for this kind of life long mass treatment for an avoidable illness. It'll bankrupt us. To be used in exceptional circumstances when all other methods have been exhausted - ok. As the first go to option - no!

I suppose because we are not all overweight through greed? Although, even that shouldn't prevent treatment tbh, we treat lung cancer in smokers.

I'm overweight because of trauma. Part of my complex PTSD diagnosis relates to food - neglect specifically, when you have been hungry, and I mean really hungry, as a child it's not too hard to understand why food can take over your whole life when you become an adult with unlimited choice.

That's not true OP. I'm not wealthy and yet I have no issue providing myself and my ds with healthy home cooked food for about £25 a week each. Lots of fruit &veg.

Eating healthily is NOT more expensive.

Eating healthily is about education on nutrition and how to cook simple meals quickly. And about ignoring the food advertising industry.

Mass provision of WL drugs doesn't address the underlying issue of people eating over processed rubbish.

To be fair that article does just tack on a sentence at the end saying several studies had found independent benefits. Presumably that means some didn't.

I'd love to be prescribed Mounjaro, I'm T2 diabetic on Insulin and Metformin and have a BMI of 32, I eat low carb and am slowly losing weight but I don't qualify for Ozempic, Saxender or Mounjaro on NHs because to be eligible you need to have shown no/little improvement in sugar levels with 3 other medications (insulin, metformin etc) first.

Despite the fact that Mounjaro is specifically designed to reduce blood sugar levels in diabetics and would help me to lose weight which in itself would help my body to produce more insulin. It would most likely reduce me from 2 injections and 4 tablets a day to one injection a week.

I think that these drugs do need to be made more widely available on the NHS but that while there are still shortages and cost challenges, they should be prioritised to people with diagnosed health conditions.

I would buy it myself but I'm currently buying my own Continuous Glucose Monitors which is just over £100 a month, as I'm not eligible on NHS, so that I have constant visibility of my glucose levels to find the trends and eliminate the foods that are causing highs (working really well for me). I'm also concerned about the lack of continuity of care if I start taking a medication prescribed privately while simultaneously being prescribed insulin and metformin by the Diabetes clinic which I may need to reduce or I would risk Hypos.

Yes, did you?

Thank you.

Did you actually read the article?

From the BBC article:

Tom Quinn from the eating disorder charity Beat said: "Wegovy or other weight-loss medications should only be sold under the strictest possible conditions, with stringent physical and mental health checks to ensure patients are well enough.

"These medications can be very attractive to people with eating disorders as they seemingly offer a 'quick fix' solution, however there is a very high risk of making those affected even more unwell and can further entrench eating disorder thoughts and behaviours. It is vital that people are aware of the dangers of abusing medication in order to lose weight and there should be more education on their effects."

It also cites a large-scale follow-up study which concluded:

One year after withdrawal of once-weekly subcutaneous semaglutide 2.4 mg and lifestyle intervention, participants regained two-thirds of their prior weight loss, with similar changes in cardiometabolic variables. Findings confirm the chronicity of obesity.

... On balance, they do sound like miracle drugs. But miracle drugs have a tendency to show a dark side after long-term use, and it does look like most users would need to stay on the meds or at least keep going back on them. The potential for abuse is obvious, and so is the risk of malnutrition in users whose food choices aren't the best.

Even after the supply issues are resolved, I think there's good reason for cautious prescribing.

They fund things like cancer treatments acquired by smoking, or liver transplant for alcoholics etc.

By your logic, we shouldn't do those either?

Well, it's not preventable health care though, is it?

It's just putting a plaster over the main problem of why people overeat, don't exercise or know how to cook or anything about food!

Why should the nhs fund something that I’ve done to my self through been greedy . I am on Mounjaro and happy to pay for it .

“Experts have warned in the past that the drug is not a quick fix or a replacement for eating well and exercising, and should only be offered under medical supervision.“

So where is the money going to come for educating and encouraging that when it’s all been spent on these pens?

Where is the money for heart disease, high BP, cancer…etc that will still be there due to the same crap being eaten but just in smaller quantities?

No. The NHS refused to fund optimal treatment for osteoporosis for me. Six fractures in six years but I am under 65. I had to pay £2,400 for teriparatide in accordance with Nice guidelines.

I didn't have the choice to cut down food to improve a chronic health condition and neither do many others.

The benefits are independent of any subsequent weight loss: https://archive.is/MJkie

Well, at least your last post recognised a supply issue, @nextdoorconundrum. I'm sure it's more exciting to fulminate about NHS gatekeeping and global cartels, but the fact is semaglutides are in global shortage because demand very quickly outstripped capacity to produce. South Park made a great episode about it.

Maybe revisit this topic next year, once all the new labs are up and running?

But if people are still eating crap there will be no health benefits and actually people will have less incentive to eat healthier so could end up eating worse( just less).

None of those say it's from the actual drug. They say it's in people who lost weight using semaglutide.

This is incorrect. The benefits are from the actual drug. If you do a google there were a rash of new stories about it this weekend.

If you are eating the same crap but less of it you are still going to have high BP, heart disease, increased cancer risk…. and there will be less money to treat all those things.

It’s a ridiculous idea.

From losing weight.

The long term risks are unknown, for people who are actually obese and don't have the means to lose weight naturally then the risk balance is worthwhile. I suspect the NHS doesn't want millions on law suits in decades time when people pancreas' are screwed or their bowels are paralysed though, people can't really sue for health issues as a result of being fat.

The drug(s) specifically. And bear in mind there are now multiple variations of the drugs that work on different receptors/levels with several more currently in trials.

I couldn’t agree more.