• Snot Flickerman@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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    8 months ago

    I feel like I’ve been here before.

    When I was young there was an exciting, blockbuster weight loss drug and all the benefits of it were all over the news.

    Then, eventually, all the downsides were revealed and it was eventually banned from the market. (fen phen)

    There is not enough research and attention being paid attention to the mental health side effects of these drugs, as well as other knock-on effects.

    As well as the fact that many people cannot and will not be able to afford these drugs, meaning they will largely go to the well-to-do, further entrenching mental health issues with the poor having further body image issues as the well-to-do start thinning out. There’s also the issue that since these were originally diabetes drug that their popularity as weight loss drugs will make them difficult to access for diabetes patients.

    Soon, like so many things, being a healthy weight will literally only be affordable to a certain class of people, and that does have knock-on societal mental health effects. (At least in the US.)

    But yeah, let’s keep cheering on new drugs that haven’t been on the market long enough for long-term testing and that originally was developed for people with diabetes.

    • RotaryKeyboard@lemmy.sdf.org
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      8 months ago

      Well, the flip side of that argument comes with people who are in dire circumstances and want to try a drug for the potential benefits, but can’t because it hasn’t been approved yet. I think it’s perfectly fine to welcome the good news along with the bad. Science works with transparency.

    • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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      8 months ago

      I remember when Olestra came out and it was hailed as this new thing that will allow everyone to eat high-fat foods guilt free.

      Then it turned out it made you shit your pants.

      • billwashere@lemmy.world
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        8 months ago

        Man do I have a story about a coworkers chair during the late 90s because of Olestra ….

        Let’s just say it ended up in an empty cube. Good times.

      • SeaJ
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        8 months ago

        Meh. It wasn’t that bad. It was great when you were constipated though.

      • queermunist she/her@lemmy.ml
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        8 months ago

        Olestra’s infamous diarrhea is mostly over-hyped.

        Like, yeah, if you eat a lot of it you’ll shit your pants. In reasonable quantities its fine, though.

        But people heard “0 calories? I can eat as much as I want!” and well…