Do Ozempic and Wegovy Cause Blindness? New Side Effect

New generation of drugs indicated in diabetes And obesity This meant a revolution within the market. Medicines such as Ozempic or Vegovy They have become a sales phenomenon with their own “black market.” Their visible results are the main attraction of these products, which also come with risks. The latest to come to the fore, especially in JAMA Ophthalmologyis a type rare blindness known as Noyana.

The study was observational in nature and was conducted under the direction of Joseph Rizzo, a Mass Eye Hospital and professor at Harvard Medical School. Links semaglutide use to non-arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (NAI)potentially blinding pathology of the optic nerve.

Specifically, the study found that people with type 2 diabetes who were prescribed semaglutide by their doctor were more than four times more likely to be diagnosed with Noyana; People who were overweight or obese had more than seven times more.

“The use of these drugs has increased dramatically throughout the industrialized world and they have brought very significant benefits in many ways, but future conversations between the patient and his or her physician should include Noyana as a potential risk“This is especially true if patients have other known optic nerve problems, such as glaucoma,” says Rizzo.

It is important to remember, however, that the increased risk is linked to a relatively rare condition, the researcher warns. Nojana affects 10 out of every 100,000 people in the general population, a figure that still makes it the second-leading cause of optic nerve blindness (second only to glaucoma).

The study began in late summer 2023. Neuro-ophthalmologists at Mass Eye and Ear noted that three patients in their practice had been diagnosed with vision loss from this relatively rare condition in just one week; the doctors noted that all three were taking semaglutide. This prompted the team to conduct a retrospective analysis of the patient population to see if they could identify a link.

Researchers analyzed the records 16,827 patients were treated over six years and divided them into those diagnosed with diabetes or overweight/obesity.

The researchers compared those prescribed semaglutide with those taking other diabetes or weight-loss medications. They then analyzed the incidence of Nojana diagnoses in the two groups, revealing an increased risk.

Among people with type 2 diabetes (194 people taking semaglutide, compared with 516 people taking other types of drugs), 17 cases of Noiana were diagnosed in patients taking semaglutide, compared with six in the other group. Over three years, the cumulative incidence was 8.9% and 1.8%, respectively.

In overweight and obese people (361 people receiving semaglutide and 618 people receiving other treatments), there were 20 Noiana events compared with 3. Over three years, the cumulative incidence was 6.7% and 0.8%, respectively.

Semaglutide side effects

This finding adds to the list of potential side effects associated with semaglutide that have yet to be determined. This situation also includes a suspected increase in births and pregnancies, which is already known to be “Ozempic kids”However, the most common symptoms confirmed by documentation from the Spanish Agency for Medicines and Health Products (Aemps) are:

• Hypoglycemia
• Nausea
• Diarrhea
• Decreased appetite
• Dizziness
• Complications of diabetic retinopathy
• Vomit
• Abdominal pain and bloating
• Constipation
• Dyspepsia
• Gastritis
• Reflux
• burp
• Flatulence

Limitations of the study

Mass Eye and Ear cares for an unusually large number of people with rare eye diseases, the study population is mostly white, and the number of Noiana cases observed over the six-year study period is relatively small.

The researchers also could not determine whether patients actually took semaglutide or stopped taking it at some point, or how that might have affected their risk.

It is important to note that the study does not prove cause and effect, and the researchers do not know why or how the relationship exists or why the difference arose in the diabetic and overweight groups.

“Our results should be considered significant but preliminary, as future studies are needed to explore these issues in a much larger and more diverse population,” Rizzo emphasizes.