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Culture War Roundup for the week of October 9, 2023

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Ozempic looks like it's the real deal. I don't put much stock in people who keep muttering under their breath about some hidden catch, as if the universe works that way. A cure for obesity, as well as seemingly effective

Ozempic is probably clearly an all cause mortality improvement for people with obesity, which is a huge win, though I think the cost-benefit is worse if you're taking it for non-health reasons since it does cause an apparent decrease in muscle mass and also elevated heart rate which... probably can't be good?

I think those are the catches.

I sure do hear a lot of muttering from naturally thin types about it though!

I sure do hear a lot of muttering from naturally thin types about it though!

Just wait until they figure out how to safely trigger hypertrophy without lifting lol.

Just wait until they figure out how to safely trigger hypertrophy without lifting lol.

You mean steroids? Oh, "safely".

Myostatin inhibitors exist and have had some promising initial results. That said, I'm more cautious about drugs that allow uncontrolled cell growth than I am GLP agonists.

Hmm, I should check if the people and cattle with myostatin knockout mutations have increased cancer rates.

My bet is no--cancer seems to be more associated with hyperplasia than hypertrophy, and I'd expect a myostatin inhibitor to encourage the latter. My personal worry is more around heart health. Needs more research before I'd dive into self experimentation, though.

I would presume the same, but we're both being lazy by not googling it haha

The loss of muscle along with fat is a fairly common side effects of any procedure or treatment that makes you lose weight quickly, hell even fasting. Still something worth keeping an eye on.

The elevation in heart rate seems pretty insignificant, unless someone has an existing heart condition, I think it's utterly irrelevant both on its own and given the overall cardiovascular benefits.

Ah, it's great to live in an age of manmade wonders beyond my comprehension!

since it does cause an apparent decrease in muscle mass

Is the decrease in muscle mass worse than what you would expect from just eating less calories?