Nonsense about weight loss drug

Joacim Lund's comment in Aftenposten about the slimming medicine Ozempic is nonsense from start to finish. Behind it hides a serious misconception that, unfortunately, is shared far into medical circles.

Troublesome claim

Ozempic and others GLP-1 analogues is the closest we get to a cure for obesity, an effective remedy for a hitherto unsolved public health problem affecting 2.5 billion people worldwide.

The medications lead to weight reductions of 15—20 percent, reductions we do not see similar to outside of surgical interventions. Given the enormous gains in terms of health, pleasure and finances of such weight reductions a key priority should be to obtain as many people as possible access to these medications.

But not according to Lund. If you are considering slimming sprays, you need to “think carefully”. As long as you don't have a BMI (body mass index) over 30, there is “no medical reason to lose weight” as long as you don't have “weight-related health problems”. “Doctors can take note of that as well.”

It sounds too good to be true, and so is it. There is a clear consensus that a BMI over 25 is noxious pre health. Lund has probably been misled by older studies that did not take into account that smoking both kills and dieters you, thus giving a misleading impression that being overweight can protect against unhealthiness.

Offensive and misleading

Besides the direct health effects of weight reduction, the medications appear to work against the abuse of alcohol, smoking and other drugs, and a striking amount of other states, such as suicide and Alzheimer's disease.

And regardless of their health, isn't it wonderful that people who have always struggled with excess weight can finally gain control of an important part of their lives? To dismiss this as vanity is offensive and misleading.

Lund is even skeptical of its use in those with severe obesity. The medicine is simply a symptom relief “rescue buoy” that only works “as long as you take it”. What relevance this should have is not easy to understand.

It would place slimming medicine alongside painkillers and allergy medicine, without me seeing similar charges against these. The charge is also misplaced. Unlike pain relief, slimming drugs correct the feeling of hunger that causes the excess weight, thus going to the core of the problem.

The reason for Lund's startling claim is that he sees overeating as a symptom of the real disease: trauma-induced soul wounds. But what is cause, and what works, are two different things.

Psychological research shows that it is often more helpful to learn techniques to deal with the problems rather than digging into the traumas that created them. We should not have a higher standard for slimming medicine than for soul therapy.

It's Time to Rethink Old Beliefs

Lund, unfortunately, is not alone in having an aversion to medication solving complex problems. Doctors long opposed giving women pain relievers in childbirth, and some medical communities are still skeptical of slimming drugs.

But given the great proven usefulness of the medications, it's time to get rid of the fear of medicine. We will probably also see that many of the deeper problems become easier to deal with when weight no longer overshadows everything else.

‍