A recent study has revealed a frightening link between popular diabetes drugs Ozempic and Wigovy and a rare eye disease that can cause blindness.
Research published in medical journals JAMA Ophthalmology, reported that people taking drugs containing semaglutide were much more likely to develop NAION, or more accurately known by its acronym, non-arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy.
It is defined by a lack of blood flow through the optic nerve, which has over a million strands, resulting in sudden loss of vision. NAION is a rare disease, affecting only 2 to 10 people per 100,000. It is the second leading cause of optic nerve blindness and there is currently no effective treatment.
The study found that people using semaglutide for diabetes were four times more likely to develop NAION than those not using the drug. The risk was even greater for those using it for weight loss, more than seven times higher.
“To be clear, I am not going to take the results of my study and use them to encourage patients to stop taking their medications,” he says. Dr. Rizzo. “Our findings are the first possible significant negative findings for these drugs, and they merit special attention when discussing between doctors and patients about who should use these drugs.” There may be.”
According to this study, semaglutide was associated with a 7-fold increased risk of NAION when used to treat obesity and a 4-fold increased risk when used to treat type 2 diabetes. Masu.
Among 710 patients with type 2 diabetes, those using semaglutide had an 8.9% chance of developing NAION, and those using other drugs had a 1.8% chance of developing NAION.
The incidence of NAION was 6.7% in patients receiving semaglutide for weight loss and 0.8% in patients receiving other drugs.
