Jabs and the impact on society

[Onand]

DP and a few friends are all MJ converts, the confidence and renewed self confidence is very real.

It’s got me wondering whether we’re going to see a cultural shift from the era of ‘body positivity’ as more people take up the injections and realise the real benefits of a healthier BMI long term. Will we see a return of the stigma attached to obesity that had started to diminish during the last decade with a broader acceptance of being overweight and an industry that supported it from plus size retailers and of course the food industry.

As more people start using the jabs the number of obese people in society will significantly drop leaving behind those who either can’t take the jabs for financial or medical reasons, won’t take them or simply wish to be as they are -as the ‘fat people’ whereas before so many ‘over eaters’ who are now on MJ would also be in the crowd with them.

Is the body confidence attitude going to switch particularly for women? Stocking plus sizes in the numbers we see now will slowly start to be loss making. Walking around my local shopping centre there are plenty of bigger girls wearing cropped tops, tight fitted clothing all with amazing make up- it’s ‘a look’ and you can see they’re not ashamed because they’re not an anomaly- yet.

User - yes your impression is wrong.

We know shame doesn't lead people to lose weight. People feeling comfortable about themselves and having clothes that fit all helps. Having people on screen that are larger is great.

Yes people know. People care. But until now nearly everything they've tried failed (isn't it 95% failure rate of most diets etc).

I'm hoping this will be life hanging for me.

Oh absolutely I feel like that, as a 40 something life long overweight/obese person, but wondered if there is less stigma amongst some younger people than there used to be?

Ok, I guess we need to wait and see.

I agree if will be more widely available, pills will be available soon enough, and the nhs roll out will speed up, and price will come down.

but I don’t think the starting criteria of bmi 27 will be reduced by the regulatory authorities. At all.

its all speculation though, neither of us have a crystal ball.

I also expect GLP-1 drugs to start to be trialled for mental health and other illnesses and if/when those results come in, then widespread use in the non-overweight or obese population might occur, which could be problematic as some of these people may not wish to lose weight or take away their appetite too much, and I expect titrating these doses down and combining them differently to occur.

This a very fast moving marketplace, one in eight people in the US have tried a weight loss drug, that's a huge uptake in about a year and a half, I can't think of a similar rapid penetration of a marketplace in a long time. About the same amount of Americans are on antidepressants currently, and take benzodiazepines currently, and it took a lot longer to build those markets.

but I don’t think the starting criteria of bmi 27 will be reduced by the regulatory authorities. At all I kind of agree, at least in the short term, but 27 is in the overweight category and it's going to be hard to hold the line that only those with conditions/ethnicity related to higher risk should be allowed it. I think the line around 30 which is the obesity boundary has already been broken, plus of course we have the example of celebrities all of whom must be using it privately, mostly with a normal or underweight BMI.

I find the whole area fascinating, I am very sceptical about some of the other benefits, there's a lot of work being done by the pharma companies to make these seem like miracle drugs- they certainly are very good for weight loss but for long-term maintenance of healthy body weight and other uses, the jury is still out.

Will most people end up imon them? Is there anything else so widely used??

And yes I'm expecting Big Food to lashback

Or conspiracy theorists.

Good point! It’s so shady and clandestine with these big corporations.

A pp said no obese elderly, that’s just not true. Although it depends on what you’re calling obese. I’m not elderly but according to NHS guidelines I was technically obese at 12 stone 10.

There’s plenty of obese elderly maybe just not as many “extremely” obese ones like the ones we see on 600 pound life etc if that’s who you mean

Lots of interesting posts.

I’ve noticed a fair amount of users on other threads are reporting lower tolerance and appeal of alcohol- this is going to impact alcohol companies eventually especially once the jabs popularity amongst middle aged males increases. The weekly bottles of wine being replaced with non alcoholic drinks will be quite a significant number. That’s going to have a hugely positive impact on people’s health.

For pity’s sake. It should be fairly obvious that my intention was for obese NHS/front line staff to have it - not coerced or forced or given it “just to experience” it. Yes, I’ve not forgotten it’s a prescription-only medication.

If it was within my remit I would prescribe it to front-line staff for free so they could experience the benefits IF THEY MEET THE CRITERIA (the caps is the bit that would be obvious to every sane person but you it seems).

As part of my work I sat in a meeting recently of the people who would be responsible for prescribing such medication on the NHS and their ignorant, ill-informed views shocked me, for example “it’s cheating”. These were NHS/providers who were clearly obese and my thought was that if they experienced the benefits for themselves they would not be such gatekeepers.

I might be wrong but I think every last obese person has a feeling of self-loathing no matter what they say. I’m older than the younger generation of body positives, but one thing I do notice about body positives is that they all lose weight - Adele, Allison Hammond, Michelle Mc Manus etc etc.

I don’t think any obese person is happy with themselves.

Hrt? Metformin? Statins? Blood pressure pills?

People have been taking glp1s for 20 years. They were discovered almost 40 years ago. The side effects and long term issues are already known.

Hrt is only a subsection of women over a certain age.

I guess I'm imagining many more people may end up on these if it does become the norm.

Paracetamol, ibuprofen, birth control, nicotine replacement...

@TrollTheAncientYuletideCarol Don't you remember how quickly Prozac took off though? I remember when it was announced that people would lose ten pounds when they started to take Prozac; the share prices went up massively.

I think only a very small subsection take ibuprofen or paracetamol daily don't they? Most people only have it for a few days here and there.

I guess a lot of women use birth control though!

I doubt most the country use nicotine patches.

mounjaro isn’t taken daily either.

Well each dose is for a week and it's taken constantly - you aren't supposed to stop and start it once you start as you have to titrate upwards and have it your system.

Me taking a paracetamol a few times a year is quite different.

Closest would be birth control I guess for something a lot of people take regularly.

A lot of people take antidepressants but theres lots of types but that might be similar in terms of side effects and potential long term harm maybe. I still think more people will be taking this drug though.

The inventors of MJ will have hit the jackpot really won't they.

I’m not sure what you’re on about really. No one is suggesting stopping and starting,, mounjaro is taken weekly not daily.

and there are now several drugs on the market, with 8 more in testing, close to approval,

but yes, the manufacturers who cure obesity will make a lot of money, it is a win win all round.

The thread is about effects on society and it was a discussion about any other drug taken by potentially a large proportion of society on a regular basis if that helps?

I will be starting next year once some other healthbthings are sorted. Many people further up in richer circles have said many frie ds are on it.

I think this is potentially a drug that a lot of people will be on in a way we haven't seen with anything else (apart from potentially birth control) . And that's bound to have knock on effects elsewhere in a way that taking a few paracetamol a year won't. (Hopefully on upf food producers but I suspect they will market differently perhaps)

@TrollTheAncientYuletideCarol we do live in an obesogenic environment. Just walk in any supermarket and we find half an aisle dedicated to biscuits, another to crisps, another to sweets and chocolate, and another to pop. The chiller sections are stuffed to the gunnels with ready meals and a plethora of side dishes. Prior to MJ that stuff was in my shopping trolley but now it isn’t as I am cooking more at home and the thought of a packet of crisps makes me feel ill. I can’t see the food industry saying let’s go back to just supplying the basics as it is being driven by our desire for convenience food with billions invested in it and thousands of jobs.

This is so true. The last time I went on holiday I was in a Lidl in Spain and couldn't believe the lack of crisps/chocolate and snacks.

I think it was in Chris Van Ts book that research showed that living in an area with lots of fast food stores and hence advertising meant people ate more junk food even if they never brought those foods...

@FatsiaJaponicaInTheGarden So I live a 25 minute walk from our high street and since I have started walking there and back during the week I am amazed at the number of Deliveroo delivery riders dropping off stuff within a short distance. I guess feeding the need for convenience

(granted six weeks ago I didn’t think it was a short distance)