Category: Anti-Obesity Programs
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Superbowl Ads
No comments on Superbowl AdsThey’re an American tradition. This year included a minute-long ad that: “[P]itches a “life-changing” solution to all this: weight-loss drugs, as offered by the telehealth startup Hims & Hers.” (source) Of course there’s also scaremongering about the “obesity epidemic” and the implication that all only weight-loss drugs can make changes. The product? Off-brand GLP-1 antagonists. […]
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In the news – Insurance and Weight Loss
No, US health insurance doesn’t cover weight loss. Here’s why.
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So, that happened
Looking back on the colonoscopy
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The Locked Room, or Dieting Serial Killer
Murder mysteries are fun, right?
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Quote of the Day
Can I, or anyone, say that weight loss is never medically necessary? Of course not. Is weight loss overprescribed? Absolutely. And given that intentional weight loss is not a benign pursuit, for psychological health at the very minimum, it’s wise to think twice before starting down, or staying on, that perilous road. From Carrie Dennett
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Weight Loss Expectations
Yay Aubrey Gordon for pointing out (in the Maintenance Phase podcast on Ozempic) that if she were to use Ozempic she would have a 50% chance of losing 15% of her body weight. Which would take her from a morbidly obese BMI to …drumroll… a morbidly obese BMI. If a 15% weight loss would put […]
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Weight-Neutral Appoaches in Medicine
Pleased today with an episode of a local podcast discussing harms of fat stigma. It includes a recommendation for the Maintenance Phase podcast for more. You can hear or read at https://kuow.org/stories/seattle-doctors-embracing-weight-neutral-healthcare
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Make Me Smart with guest Lindy West
I’m listening to a fave podcast, Make Me Smart, which did a “live in Seattle” recording. Tuesday’s episode includes them talking with Lindy West. They talk about work, about the WGA strike, and … Ozempic. Link: https://www.marketplace.org/shows/make-me-smart/live-from-seattle-part-2-we-talk-to-lindy-west/ (Or search for Make Me Smart in your podcast app) As Lindy notes, not everyone has $1000/mo for […]
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Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving yesterday was turkey roasted in a bag; stuffing with mushrooms, water chestnuts, and cashews; green bean casserole; followed by apple crisp. Fridge is full, but it’s not like we emptied it beforehand. Today I had a blueberry muffin with coffee. Around 11 I heated a bowl of leftover veggie curry, then around 2 a […]
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Workplace “Wellness” Programs
Slate has a good article on how “wellness” programs aren’t. There’s good details on why they tend not to actually improve health. But the money quote is: Under the ACA, wellness programs are a legal way to shift a significant portion of the cost of premiums onto employees deemed unhealthy. Wellness programs don’t save money […]
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No, Really, Treat the PROBLEM
A comment for Treat Weight First? that I did not approve, but found striking for its ability to completely misunderstand, was: There must be some powerful drugs in that koolaid you’re drinking. You admit you are morbidly obese, you have multiple health problems directly related to obesity, yet you shun the doctors that are trying to help […]
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Treating Weight First?
The Twitterverse has been busy talking about some new treatment guidelines for fatties. Ragen Chastain posted about a piece from Medscape called “New US Obesity Guidelines: Treat the Weight First,” which also has quotes from the lead author. I also clicked over to the guidelines themselves. They start with an extremely helpful objective, to wit: […]
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“a successful weight loss drug could potentially have huge sales”
Wow, so many people want to lose weight! Wouldn’t a weight loss drug make piles of money? Check out this business article on the new drug the FDA approved! In a clinical trial involving patients without diabetes, those who took Contrave had an average weight loss of 4.1 percent beyond those receiving a placebo. About […]
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QOTD: Workplace Wellness
Much criticism of “employer wellness programs” have been focused on privacy concerns and angering employees. But now we’re seeing more practical concerns (also known as “does this even work?”). Which leads me to this quote of the day, directed at CEOs: Suppose a vendor made you this proposal: “Pay us to take your employees off the […]
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Tell Me Again How It’s “For My Own Good”
Lara Frater wrote about this and I wanted to boost the signal. The Rudd Center recently came out with a study (PDF link) showing that weight stigma affects the stress hormone cortisol. Exposure to weight-stigmatizing stimuli was associated with greater cortisol reactivity among lean and overweight women. These findings highlight the potentially harmful physiological consequences of exposure to weight stigma. […]
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Some Workplace Wellness Programs Work
I found it surprising too! A study of over 67,000 people who could join PepsiCo’s “Healthy Living” wellness program found that 7 years of participation in a “disease management” program resulted in a net savings — the cost of the program was less than the money saved by reduced healthcare costs. These sorts of programs are “aimed […]
Living ~400lbs 