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MARCH 20, 2026
AIKEN-AUGUSTA’S MOST SALUBRIOUS NEWSPAPER • OUR 20th YEAR
WEIGHTWAIT
THE ANTIDOTE
“The antidote to what?” you may be wondering. To put it in vastly oversimplified terms, the antidote to modern life. There is a large segment of the population that feels a growing disconnection from the human race. Friends don’t call friends anymore, they might complain; they send texts instead. They don’t visit. Nobody writes letters; they post social media updates filled with trivia and emojis. For many, their only source of in-person human interactions is at work. And afterward, they go home to an empty house, since nearly
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one-third of all American households consist of just one person (in 1940 that figure was just 7%). Even among family groups, we can spend more time than we should watching TV, surfing the internet, playing with our phones, or other excuses for staring at screens for huge chunks of time rather than interacting with the people living with us. What is the antidote? See photo! Consider: a dog never keeps score, judging us for real or perceived slights. A dog never withPlease see ANTIDOTE page 6
You say you’d like to lose a few pounds? You are not alone. Join the club. But hold up for just a minute. Let’s wait when it comes to weight. Sure, there is plenty of work to be done: nearly 75% of American adults are overweight or obese (!) and more than half say they want to lose weight even if they aren’t actively trying. The number who are actively trying to lose weight, depending on which survey one consults, range from a low of 26% to a high of 42%. Taking the highest and the lowest numbers, 75% of Americans are overweight but only 25% are trying to change that. What could explain that? There are many factors. Surveys reveal that in the “overweight” population, only about half believe they are actually overweight. Even in the “obese” category, about 10 to 15% view their weight as “about right.” In addition, as our collective waistline continues to grow, what might have been viewed as heavy in the past looks more and more normal as time goes by. But let’s face
it: even for those who accept that they are overweight and want to do something about it, losing weight is not easy. When it comes to weight control, many people feel like they’re driving a car whose steering wheel and brakes barely work. Weight “control” is often just a figure of speech. Which all brings us back to the weight waiting game. Nobody wants to wait on weight, which is why prescriptions for GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic rose 700% between 2019 and 2023. This class of drugs offers quick results, and that’s what everybody wants. There is a cost, however. Most of us have seen pictures of the skeletal remains of formerly plump celebrities parading down various red carpets. And right here in the good old CSRA there are plenty of people who have tried the GLP-1 route. Some of them endured the vomiting and diarrhea, etc, and lost weight, while others concluded that no Please see WAIT page 3
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RENEA SOOS
Independent Medicare Broker Renea Soos Serving Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina and Michigan • Email: srsoos@yahoo.com
706-399-1989 • soosbenefitsgroup.com