Obesity caused by the American lifestyle of moving less and eating more is one of the main factors contributing to obesity. type 2 diabetes. 38.4 million people in the United States have diabetes, and 95% of them have Type 2 diabetes, which is caused by insulin resistance.

To make matters worse, 97.6 million people over the age of 18 must standby. prediabetes. This means they are rapidly progressing towards full-blown Type 2 diabetes, and for most, it’s just a matter of time.

These are frightening statistics, and we add on top of that the fact that healthcare costs for people with Type 2 diabetes are two and a half times the cost of treatment for someone without diabetes. And remember, Type 2 diabetes is just one piece of the puzzle; Cardiovascular diseases are also predicted to contribute significantly to healthcare costs in the future, especially as we keep people alive longer.

Can our healthcare system withstand these increasing costs?

Do new weight-loss GLP-1 drugs really work?

Common sense tells us no unless there is a major change. Could this big change be the much-touted new GLP-1 weight loss drugs? It’s hard to say. Yes, the silver lining is that people who use the drug for a year or more tend to lose 15-20% of their body weight. Of course this is useful. But what about the long-term effects? We don’t know the answer because these drugs haven’t been around long enough.

Experts also point out medical positives beyond weight loss associated with medications. But other experts remain cautious. Weight loss with these medications appears to result from eating very little, because the medications greatly reduce appetite. I’ve heard firsthand about people going to a fancy restaurant, ordering their favorite meal, then only taking a few bites and then stopping. Sounds nice, right? However, this is a very severe effect and such effects often bring serious side effects.

As with any new drug, there will be pros and cons. I will step back and let medical experts debate the effectiveness and safety of these medications. Two facts stand out for me. The first is that appetite can be reduced so greatly that the effect is very similar to a crash diet of 2000 to 500 calories per day. Yes, weight loss happens quickly, but what are you losing? Fat cannot be lost quickly, as the body values ​​body fat as a storehouse of stored energy that helps ensure survival. Although fat is not lost quickly, the opposite is true for muscle, which is lost five times faster than fat. This means that a significant portion of the weight loss comes from muscle and some fat loss.

Another concern similar to crash dieting is that the weight may come back as soon as you stop taking the drugs. But when you reverse the situation and go from eating 500 calories a day to 2000 calories a day, your body perceives this as overeating and most of the excess “new” calories are stored as fat.

Drug manufacturers’ reaction? When you sign to buy these drugs, you sign for life. This means you can’t consider these medications as a starting point, something to get you going, and then move on to another “healthy” approach.

Is the obesity epidemic the same as the old smoking epidemic?

We need to do something to reduce obesity, but in my opinion we are going about it all wrong. When I see experts talking about these medications on TV, they tell us that these medications are for people who “can’t lose weight.” There is no doubt that some people cannot lose weight for one legitimate medical reason or another. However, this is certainly not true for every obese person, who makes up 42% of the US population. I also hear that diets and exercise don’t work. When you put these two thoughts from experts together, it’s no wonder people refuse to lose weight properly and desperately refuse to take pills.

How about this as an analogy? It was once believed that the vast majority of smokers were unable to quit. Moreover, existing treatments, from hypnosis and counseling to nicotine patches, were thought to not work, so the situation was hopeless. Obesity seems like our problem, right?

Seventy years ago, nearly half of American adults smoked, and this continued unendingly for decades. However, C. Everett Koop, United States Surgeon General and we declared war against smoking. He has published report after report on the negative health consequences of smoking. He also denounced second-hand smoke as dangerous and dragging non-smoking victims into war. He reduced the smoking rate to 27% during his tenure in the 1980s. Today, its incidence is 11.5%.

Maybe B.C. We should start a Co-Op-like campaign, listening to what smart people have been trying to tell us for ages, starting in 400 BC when Hippocrates urged people to walk more to prevent disease. It’s solid advice, especially for the 80% of American adults and the more than 80% of adolescents who can’t even meet minimum daily exercise guidelines.

How can I lose weight?

Like the famous quote from the comic book character Pogo: “We have met the enemy, and he is us.”

It’s time to heed the warning signs and stop pretending that our healthcare system can stay the course and survive. Fortunately, simple steps like taking a daily walk and some good dietary changes can help us turn the tide and maintain the best healthcare system in the world.

Reach Bryant Stamford, professor of kinesiology and integrative physiology at Hanover College, at [email protected]..

This article first appeared in the Louisville Courier Journal: Could weight-loss drugs combat the obesity epidemic in the United States? What you need to know