A major study has raised concerns that weight loss injections, like Ozempic, may increase the risk of an eye condition that can lead to permanent blindness.
The active ingredient in these injections, semaglutide, is widely used to treat obesity and type 2 diabetes.
Researchers in the US followed more than 37 million people and found that semaglutide could make users more vulnerable to non-arteritic ischemic anterior optic neuropathy (NAION), also known as an ‘eye stroke’ which cause sudden vision loss, typically in one eye.
This condition happens when the blood vessels supplying the optic nerve get blocked, causing damage to the nerve.
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While the risk of this happening remains low, experts stress that more research is needed to fully understand the connection and why semaglutide might trigger this condition.
NAION affects around one in 10,000 people and there are currently no treatments available, resulting in no vision improvement in most cases.
Separate research also looked into cases of blindness in people using semaglutide or another weight-loss drug, tirzepatide.
The researchers suggested that the rapid drop in blood sugar caused by these medications might damage blood vessels in the eyes.
“The sudden change in pressure can cause fluid to leak out of delicate blood vessels in the retina, leading to swelling and damage,” they said.
Around half a million people in the UK and 15 million in the US use these drugs, which help individuals lose up to 20% of their body weight in just a few months.
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The study conducted by Johns Hopkins University found that, of the 37 million adults tracked, 166,932 people were using type 2 diabetes drugs, including semaglutide. The researchers wrote in the journal JAMA Ophthalmology: “We observed an increased NAION risk with semaglutide exposure relative to non-exposure.”
They also found an increased risk in people using semaglutide compared to those using other diabetes drugs, like empagliflozin and sitagliptin. They urged healthcare professionals to consider the potential risk of this rare but serious eye condition when prescribing semaglutide, despite its benefits for weight loss and diabetes management.
“In the absence of a known mechanism for this association, we urge clinicians to weigh the concern for an increased risk of a rare but potentially blinding eye condition with the many therapeutic benefits of Semaglutide,” they concluded.
