Worries about Semaglutide

The UK’s health service has just approved the miracle weight loss drug Semaglutide for NHS use. I know 99.99% of things called a ‘miracle weight loss drug’ are duds, but Semaglutide seems to be the real deal. Here’s one summary of the evidence:

Of six major weight loss drugs, only two - Wegovy [Sam’s note: This is one commercial name for Semaglutide] and Qsymia - have a better than 50-50 chance of helping you lose 10% of your weight. Qsymia works partly by making food taste terrible; it can also cause cognitive issues. Wegovy feels more natural; patients just feel full and satisfied after they’ve eaten a healthy amount of food. You can read the gushing anecdotes here (plus some extra anecdotes in the comments). Wegovy patients also lose more weight on average than Qsymia patients - 15% compared to 10%. It’s just a really impressive drug.

Until now, doctors didn’t really use medication to treat obesity; the drugs either didn’t work or had too many side effects. They recommended either di…