Half of Adult Americans Eligible for Ozempic-Like Drugs
Glucagon-like peptide receptor agonists (GLP-1 RA) are the current financial rainmakers for BIG PHARMA
Shi et al from Harvard reported recently in JAMA Cardiology:
Rapidly increasing uptake of semaglutide made it the top-selling drug in the US in 2023, with net sales of $13.8 billion.
Quantifying the number of US adults eligible for semaglutide may guide future policies for this high-cost therapy and clarify potential implications for pharmaceutical spending.
The authors conclude that approximately 137 million adults or half the of the US population could have a clinical indication for once weekly GLP-1 RA drugs.
This budget breaking conclusion no doubt will have to be addressed by the incoming HHS administration led by Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.
Shi I, Khan SS, Yeh RW, Ho JE, Dahabreh IJ, Kazi DS. Semaglutide Eligibility Across All Current Indications for US Adults. JAMA Cardiol. Published online November 18, 2024. doi:10.1001/jamacardio.2024.4657
GLP-1 RAs mimic the actions of the GLP-1 hormone, which is released in the gut after eating. This stimulates the release of insulin and reduces blood sugar levels.
- Benefits
GLP-1 RAs can help with:
- Blood sugar: GLP-1 RAs are effective at lowering blood sugar levels after meals and during fasting. They are also unlikely to cause hypoglycemia (low blood sugar).
- Weight: GLP-1 RAs can help with weight reduction.
- Heart health: GLP-1 RAs may have benefits for heart health, including reducing the risk of heart attacks.
- Kidney function: GLP-1 RAs may have benefits for kidney function.
Thus there are significant benefits, however the effect on weight reduction is transient and about two thirds regain the weight that is lost after stopping the shots.
See more here substack.com
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Tom
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Big pharma’s core philosophy is to always invent new diseases and then use drugs to pretend to treat them which causes failures and many times death and that requires the use of even more drugs to mask the failures. Nowhere in that mission is the idea of helping you become healthy, staying healthy and living longer in better health.
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