Individuals taking Ozempic and Wegovy could also be at elevated danger of creating a debilitating eye situation that may trigger irreversible imaginative and prescient loss, a examine revealed Wednesday in JAMA Ophthalmology finds. The authors burdened, nevertheless, that extra research are wanted to substantiate a hyperlink between the blockbuster medication and imaginative and prescient issues.
Non-arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy, or NAIONis a situation that impacts the optic nerve, a bundle of fibers that connects to the again of the attention and carries alerts to the mind so an individual can see. In individuals with NAION, blood circulation to the optic nerve will get diminished or blocked, resulting in sudden imaginative and prescient loss.
“It’s, in impact, a stroke of the optic nerve,” stated senior examine writer Dr. Joseph Rizzo, the director of neuro-ophthalmology at Mass Eye and Ear in Boston.
NAION is the second commonest optic nerve illness within the US, occurring in as much as 10 out of 100,000 individuals, in line with the American Academy of Ophthalmologyand it's one of the crucial widespread causes of sudden blindness. The situation is everlasting with no identified therapy.
The brand new examine was primarily based on an evaluation of medical information spanning six years from greater than 16,800 sufferers within the Boston space, none of whom had been initially recognized with NAION.
The researchers targeted on a subset of these sufferers — about 1,700 — who both had diabetes, had been obese or had weight problems, and in contrast outcomes after 36 months in those that had been prescribed semaglutide to those that weren't. Semaglutide is the ingredient in Ozempic and Wegovy.
Virtually 200 of the diabetes sufferers had been prescribed semaglutide and 17 went on to develop NAION, a fee greater than 4 instances larger than these not prescribed the drug. For the weight problems group, 361 individuals had been prescribed semaglutide and 20 individuals developed the situation, a seven instances larger fee.
Rizzo stated that as a result of the findings had been primarily based on a assessment of present information, researchers can't say for positive whether or not semaglutide causes the attention situation. He stated a big, randomized managed medical trial continues to be wanted to substantiate a hyperlink.
“What it does present is an affiliation between taking semaglutide and creating this situation the place you lose imaginative and prescient,” he stated.
Dr. Andrew Lee, medical spokesperson for the American Academy of Ophthalmology and a neuro-ophthalmologist at Houston Methodist Hospital, stated he's had some sufferers who developed NAION who had been taking semaglutide, however the query was at all times whether or not “this can be a causal affiliation or merely an affiliation alone.”
Individuals with Kind 2 diabetes are already at an elevated danger for imaginative and prescient issues, together with NAION. One other imaginative and prescient drawback, diabetic retinopathy, is the main reason for blindness in adults and is attributable to injury to the retina from excessive blood sugar ranges.
What's extra, danger components for NAION embrace sleep apnea and hypertension, that are illnesses which are extra more likely to happen in individuals with weight problems.
Lee stated that it's believable that weight reduction drugs may trigger the situation, nevertheless, it’s “untimely to conclude” a hyperlink primarily based on the only examine. “The examine can solely generate the speculation” of a doable hyperlink, he stated.
There have been some anecdotal experiences suggesting that weight reduction medication could also be linked to imaginative and prescient issues, together with blurred or warped imaginative and prescient.
Rizzo stated it's unclear how the burden loss medication may trigger the situation. It could possibly be resulting from some mechanism with the category of medication, known as GLP-1s, broadly, he stated, or one thing particular to the way in which semaglutide works. (The examine solely checked out semaglutide and never different widespread weight reduction drugs resembling tirzepatide, the energetic ingredient in Eli Lilly's Mounjaro and Zepbound.)
Dr. Susan Mollan, a guide neuro-ophthalmologist on the College Hospitals Birmingham in the UK, wrote in an e mail that previous trials in individuals with diabetes have proven that when a affected person's blood sugar management is tightened, “they could have a paradoxical worsening of their diabetic retinopathy (quickly),” so it's believable that the GLP-1 medication, which additionally assist management blood sugar, may “have a paradoxical organic impact.” Mollan wrote an editorial that was revealed alongside the brand new examine.
Rizzo stated sufferers ought to converse with their physician if they’re involved about creating the potential well being situation.
“As somebody who sees sufferers who’ve illnesses like this, if somebody already has visible loss for no matter cause, they usually had been questioning whether or not they would go on semaglutide, I might simply have added warning,” Rizzo stated.
Dr. Shauna Levy, a specialist in weight problems drugs and the medical director of the Tulane Bariatric Heart in New Orleans, stated the findings received't change how she prescribes the medication.
“As for now, the danger nonetheless appears low,” she stated.
In a press release, a spokesperson for Novo Nordisk stated the examine is just not adequate to ascertain a hyperlink between semaglutide and the situation.
“Affected person security is a prime precedence for Novo Nordisk, and we take all experiences about opposed occasions from the usage of our medicines very critically,” the spokesperson stated.
