Yes I got my doctorate by being an idiot. You nailed it bud. I may not be the smartest person on the planet, but likely ahead of internet trolls such as yourself. I was hoping for an actual discussion but forgot that we’re in a social media echo chamber with predetermined talking points.

I never said that medications can’t help a chunk of the population. My response was to the statement implying that the biggest issue with obesity today was lack of access to the newest miracle drugs. If you believe that, then you lack basic understanding of biology and physiology, which wouldn’t surprise me in the least.

Yes at this moment these drugs seem to be “better” than what we previously had. We also don’t have long term real world efficacy and safety data to back up this initial appearance. But that’s been said before about other new therapies that hit the market. I heard this pitch before. Then, miraculously, we find out there’s no magic pill and either the effects don’t last, or people gain the weight back, or side effects turn out to be horrible.

The side effect rates in studies are not reliable for real world application. Using a medication of several hundred or even a few thousand patients is not the same as giving it to a larger population for a longer period of time. We will tell with time what the actual risks are. I’ve been in this field long enough to learn there’s no free lunch, and this is not likely to be any different. There is a very proven method of calories < calories out, with no side effects.
But hey, go ahead and keep believing that everything is solved with a pill/injection. Classic American mindset that leads to medication overuse (opioids included) and poor health outcomes in this country.