Discussion

“Whiplash”: Heart Attack and Stroke Risk Jumps When People Stop Taking GLP-1s

ldayley: How much of this could attributed to simply having less artificial hormonal support for not overeating after discontinuing treatment, and falling back into old habits? I’d love to see more research focused on these mechanisms.

rayiner: This is a very odd phrasing that makes it seem like heart attack and stroke risk are higher for those who stop taking the drug than those who never took the drug. Moreover, the effect of restarting taking the drug seems attributable to the study design. Those who took a break had higher risk at the end of the study than those who don’t. But those who took a break took the drug for less total time than those who took it for the entire study.You could characterize these same facts in the opposite way. GLP-1s don’t permanently change your body. They provide benefits while taking them but quickly clear out of your system when you stop taking them. Arguably, that’s a good thing in a drug.

TaupeRanger: Kind of a useless analysis if it doesn't compare the risk after stopping GLP-1s to the risk of NEVER taking GLP-1s in the first place.We probably don't know the numbers yet, but one can easily envision a scenario like: risk of CE without GLP-1 weight loss: 20%. Risk after taking GLP-1s for 2 years: 10%. Risk after stopping GLP-1s: 12%. "Your heart attack chance goes up 20% after stopping GLP-1s!!!"

46493168: In veterans with T2 diabetes:> To find out what happens when people stop taking GLP-1s, Al-Aly’s team of researchers tracked the health of more than 333,000 United States veterans with type 2 diabetes for three years.

nisegami: This makes it even more fantastic that the supply of GLP1s from my country's only legal importer is spotty and I've been suddenly cut off twice already

bradleyy: The actual study states in the summary that it's the cardiac protective improvement that reverses, not that you're worse off for having taken a GLP-1.So yeah, when you stop taking something that protects your heart and kidneys, it stops protecting... your heart and kidneys.There's an increasing body of work that indicates that long-term GLP use (initially higher doses for weight loss, then tapering down) retains the cardiac and kidney benefits and can actually lead to additional weight loss.

jryio: We finally found the first morbidity signal of GLP-1s (or lack thereof).These are life changing drugs, but like plastic we'll see their effect in force within this generation:> The longer time spent off GLP-1s, the greater the risk of major cardiovascular events—up to 22 percent for those who abstained for two years.

stavros: Doesn't it make sense that, if you were taking a drug that reduces morbidity, you'll get increased morbidity if you stop it?

Aboutplants: Also News I guess - People who pick up smoking again after a period of cessation, regain all negative effects of smoking that they previously experienced during that past smoking periods, eliminating the positive effects of the smoking cessation.

bethekidyouwant: Studies get worse every year.

jimbokun: Or articles that try to convey the content of studies have always been poor and continue to be poor.

0x3f: Others have addressed the clickbait nature of the titleI'm just surprised the food industry or whoever is willing to fund FUD content that ostensibly has such an indirect effect on their bottom line.Although I guess they spend a ton on ads which are also of dubious value, so maybe it's to be expected.

Robotbeat: Kind of makes sense that stopping taking a drug that reduces heart attack and stroke risk leads to a return to the higher risk of before.

ErroneousBosh: It doesn't reduce heart attack and stroke. It reduces appetite, kind of, and gives you a sore stomach while making you shit yourself inside out. All this can, with care, help contribute to weight loss.Weight loss can reduce heart attack and stroke, but GLP-1 does not.You could also reduce heart attack and stroke risks by not eating crap and going for a walk every so often.

Teknoman117: I’m always kind of envious of the people who were able to lose weight on GLP-1 drugs. I lost a bunch of weight a few years ago, and still need to lose a lot more (430 lb -> 330, goal 240), but I fell out of the good habits for, well, no good reasons…Decided to try Ozempic and was on it for about 6 months. Didn’t do a single thing for my appetite unfortunately, even on the max dose.Sample size of one here, but if you’ve got mental health struggles that feed into your eating patterns, GLP-1s might not help with your weight problems.

bradleyy: Hey, I can identify. Sending good thoughts your way.

cthalupa: We see risk reduction for heart attack and stroke for people on GLP-1s even without weight loss, which belies the idea that the protection only comes from losing weight.

jryio: Not if having a heart attack within 1 year at a higher rate is an co-morbidity factor when the primary treatment was for obesity or diabetes (not stating that obesity and heart disease are not positively correlated).To use a dense analogy: if I stopped brushing my teeth I would not expect to die of gum disease.

malfist: I don't think you read the study. The people returned to their pre treatment risk profile after ceasing treatment

Aboutplants: The most capitalistic drug ever! Take the drug forever and lose weight but stop taking it and you’ll die.

devin: That isn’t what this says at all.

mh-: (off-topic, but since the thread already is..)HN felt like one of the last places on the internet I could have good-faith conversations with intelligent people who would form thoughtful, on-topic replies.And now it feels like the user base here has shifted enough that the voting system no longer consistently elevates the interesting comments, but the comments that reinforce people's worldviews.

amelius: Did you try those zero-sugar candy bars (often labeled as protein bars)? They work quite well for me, no messing with GLP-1 necessary.

TaupeRanger: What do you mean? All of the comments that misunderstand the study are downvoted from what I see.

TaupeRanger: You failed to understand the results of the study and quoted a passage that does not in any way support your assertion.

amazingamazing: Honestly don’t understand it. Feels like a lack of discipline. I was 250. Plugged in a bunch of numbers into an app and it gave me a calorie count per day. I brought a scale with me everywhere, used ChatGPT to guesstimate calories, I added 50% for good measure. A year later I’m 175. You can’t do this even with drugs you’re gonna get fat anyway.I’m most curious about someone like me vs someone who lost the same amount on glp1 with respect to these stats

01100011: It lets me more or less skip a meal but holy hell I am craving sugar more than ever. On the whole I'm cutting calories and have lost a lot of weight, I just wish I didn't want sugar this much.