Ophthalmologists at Harvard Medical School and Mass Eye and Ear, a teaching hospital in Boston, found evidence that the active ingredient in weight loss miracle drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy, semaglutide, could, in rare cases, cause blindness.
Now, two different teams of researchers from the University of Southern Denmark released studies backing up the findings of Harvard Medical School’s ophthalmologists.
All three studies showed a link between GLP-1 medications like Ozempic and a rare eye disorder called non-arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy, or NAION, for short. It causes sudden and permanent vision loss. NAION is caused by a reduction in blood flow to the optic nerve.
There are thousands of NAION sufferers; it is the second most common cause of optic nerve damage-induced blindness, following glaucoma. It has several risk factors, including sleep apnea, high blood pressure, and age. Its exact causes are not fully understood, but the three published studies that looked into it found a link between NAION and miracle weight loss drugs.
One of the Danish studies found a two to three-times increased risk of NAION in people taking semaglutide.
One thing to keep in mind, however, is that these studies were observational, meaning they can’t definitively prove causality. A whole lot more research is needed with a whole lot of critical trials before a strong link between GLP-1 weight loss drugs and blindness caused by NAION can be firmly established. As of now, the benefits of managing diabetes and weight loss outweigh any potential risk of developing NAION.
Source : https://www.vice.com/en/article/ozempic-could-be-blinding-people-trying-to-lose-weight/
