It's fair to say your avg HN reader is very different to your avg American. For example, you seem already somewhat clued up about Semaglutide. You're likely interested in the biology behind it, and probably aren't afraid to parse the journal article about it.
I really wanna emphasize how different this is to your avg American.
So it's more my bad for not tailoring our language enough for a HN post.
You've probably heard the story about Head & Shoulders shampoo? This is taught in a lot of marketing classes. The year it launched there were other shampoos launching that also included selenium disulfide and piroctone olamine and therefore could have sold themselves as anti-dandruff shampoo, but the other shampoos instead went after the general market and they almost all failed. Head & Shoulders started with a niche and eventually became a giant:
"By 1982, it was the "number one brand" of shampoo, and it was noted that "No one hair care brand gets so many ad dollars as Head & Shoulders, a twenty year old brand, and no other brand matches its sales", despite it being a "medicated" shampoo."
Will give it more of a think about best early adopters.
Ephedrine was also a breakthrough weight loss treatment...until it wasn't...
Was posted on HN 4 days ago: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28239113
(in case other people want to check it out)
I am average American.
Important to say this definitely isn't the only medication the doctor will prescribe. That's a decision to make in conjunction with the patient after a full medical history.
I understand that the hustle is a part of the marketing. But medicine is not the area where you should lean on it. At least not on it alone. If you don't give me full and verifiable information about what you have, I won't be interested. Too many scams around and too high risk, especially with the new and yet unproven stuff.
They’re just taking the same medication and using it at lower doses for weight loss instead of diabetes control.
And frankly, as a fat diabetic, I strongly suspect it’s doing the exact same thing in both cases, and the reason it works for diabetics is that it helps them lose weight.
It’s definitely on my list to discuss with my endocrinologist.
Couple things:
Injectable Semaglutide was first FDA approved in 2017 as Ozempic. Wegovy is also injectable Semaglutide. The key difference is the approved dose: Ozempic is 1.0mg, Wegovy is 2.4mg. The FDA approval is also very important for future insurance remibursement.
Semaglutide is a GLP-1 RA. These medications stimulate a receptor in your body which results in three main effects: 1 - Slowing down gastric emptying so food stays in your stomach for longer (this is thought to be why there is sometimes nausea when starting the medication) 2 - Making you feel full by working on your central nervous system 3 - Managing glucose control (which is why it's used for people with diabetes too)
[1] gives you a great summary of the field up to now and how it works.
[1] https://blogs.sciencemag.org/pipeline/archives/2021/02/15/gl...
TRT clinics are grossly overpriced, charging $300+ A month for $5 drugs, so there is almost certainly room to disrupt that market. I’d be willing to wager many obese men display hypogonadism too.