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aucisson_masque | on: Life expectancy rise in rich countries slows down: took 30 years to prove
> Can we overcome ageing?

75% American are overweight..

Just let it sink a second, they speak about how many baby born after 2000 will reach 100 years old, how we are reaching the absolute limit of human survival.

75% overweight... Everyone know fat people don't live long. I bet all the studies done in the 90's that predicted we would easily be able to reach 100 years old didn't take that into account.

throwaway2037 | parent | next
To be clear, it looks like the health stat term "overweight" means anything greater than "normal", which includes obese.

Quick Google search:

    > what percent of australians are overweight?
First hit:

    > Over the last decade, the proportion of adults who were overweight or obese has increased from 62.8% in 2011–12 to 65.8% in 2022.
Source: https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/health/health-conditions-a....

US NIH says: 73.1% are overweight (includes obese). Ref: https://www.niddk.nih.gov/health-information/health-statisti...

Sure, 73.1% > 65.8%, but Australia is still plenty overweight. Both are appalling.

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scarby2 | parent | next
I'm thinking that ozempic and zepbound will have something to say about this. When ozempic becomes available as a generic (2032) it's going to be available for $10 a dose and a huge amount of people will be taking it.
MichaelZuo | root | parent | next
How do you know they don’t have side effects that would reduce max life expectancy?
generalizations | root | parent | next
Entirely possible they do - but those effects would probably manifest in some fashion earlier than actual death. We'll have at least 7 years to see if we can spot them. But, even if they do exist, they will probably be small (given we haven't found them so far), and the positive effect on life expectancy via weight loss is huge.

i.e. the benefits of the weight loss almost certainly outweigh any side effects that are likely to manifest.

positr0n | root | parent | next
People have been taking them for decades for other reasons, so if they had side effects reducing max life expectancy worse than being overweight surely we'd know by now.
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aucisson_masque | root | parent | next
A study by researchers from the University of British Columbia (Canada) shows a link between drugs intended for diabetics and severe gastrointestinal diseases: pancreatitis, intestinal obstruction, biliary pathologies and gastroparesis.

Only fools would convince themselves a drug has no sideeffect.

The worst is that these drugs were created for legitimate use but are now being abused by what I would call lazy fat who can't get their finger out of their arse and start eating healthy.

When there is a natural, effective and no side effects alternative, why go the medication way.

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renewiltord | root | parent
We don’t know if MMR doesn’t but we still give kids[0] the vaccine in infancy. The vaccine is too young (<60 y old). So I suppose ask yourself what proof you need and why.

0: most kids, I just got the disease instead and the vax later

izend | root | parent | next
We do know MMRV causes more seizures in kids than MMR and countries (like Canada) still choose to administer the vaccine with riskier outcomes due to costs and the fact parents don’t like to come back for more shots.
sph | root | parent
A vaccine is very different than a hormone taken daily.
Muromec | root | parent
Wait, doing amphetamines for weight loss is cool again and has no drawbacks of it's own?
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Barrin92 | parent | next
> Everyone know fat people don't live long.

studies estimate that moderate obesity takes about 2-3 years of life expectancy (defined as having a BMI of 30-35), only people with severe obesity (BMI of 40-45+) lose on average 6-13 years, comparable to smoking.

Given that severe obesity is still uncommon even in the rich world it only has a small impact on life expectancy overall.

bamboozled | root | parent
Combined with getting in your car and driving absolutely everywhere (most Americans)?
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EasyMark | parent | next
That’s a bizarre hill to die on, I see all kinds of larger people survive into their 90s when I was living near and volunteering at a nursing home as a teenager
WillPostForFood | root | parent | next
I see all kinds of larger people survive into their 90s

So dangerous to extrapolate from anecdotal observation like this. If I see old people smoking, doesn't mean smoking is safe. It just means it doesn't kill at 100% effectiveness.

koolba | root | parent
> It just means it doesn't kill at 100% effectiveness.

If you wait long enough, everything has a 100% effectiveness.

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dyauspitr | root | parent | next
I see “plenty” of life long smokers making it to their 80s and 90s too, that doesn’t mean it didn’t take out 90% of them along the way.
renewiltord | root | parent
That’s the funny thing: at homes and nursing homes all around America you will find WW2 veterans. One could conclude that WW2 wasn’t dangerous from that, I suppose.
Zenzero | parent | next
There is probably a distinction to be made between

"here is the theoretical limit given adherence to modern recommendations on cardiovascular health, exercise, etc."

and

"you all didn't listen and got fat instead"

watwut | parent
Being slightly overweight is associated with longer lifespan. Really look it up, the longest lifespan is slightly overweight and top of normal bmi. Lifespan gets down when you move toward obese, somewhere in the middle of overweight segment.

The worst life expectations are in underweight category.