A recent study has identified a higher risk of developing an eye condition associated with the use of semaglutide, the active substance found in diabetes and weight loss medications Wegovy and Ozempic.
The study results, published in JAMA Ophthalmology, show that diabetic patients taking medications containing semaglutide had an 8.9% risk of being diagnosed with non-arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (NAION), a condition that significantly affects vision.
By comparison, diabetic patients taking other types of medications had only a 1.8% risk of developing this disease after a 36-month monitoring period.
For patients prescribed semaglutide for both diabetes and weight loss, the incidence of the disease was 6.7%, compared to 0.8% in the group taking other types of treatments.
The study included 710 adult patients with type 2 diabetes and 979 patients taking weight loss medications.
After adjusting the data for other factors such as comorbidities, the use of semaglutide was associated with a more than 4-fold increased risk of developing the eye disease in diabetic patients and over 7 times in those taking the weight loss medication.
Non-arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy typically develops in older individuals due to insufficient blood flow to the optic nerve, causing rapid vision loss. It is the second most common cause of blindness due to optic nerve damage, after glaucoma.