Individuals taking a well-liked diabetes treatment referred to as semaglutide, bought beneath model names like Ozempic, Wegovy, and Rybelsus might face a small however vital danger to their imaginative and prescient, in accordance with new analysis. Semaglutide is commonly used to assist handle blood sugar and help weight reduction. Nonetheless, docs have grow to be involved after studies linked it to a uncommon eye situation that causes sudden and everlasting imaginative and prescient loss on account of harm to the optic nerve, which is the cable that sends visible info from the attention to the mind.
A gaggle of Scientists led by Professor Anton Pottegård from the College of Southern Denmark and the Norwegian Institute of Public Well being explored this doable hyperlink. Their analysis, revealed on the journal of Diabetes, Weight problems and Metabolism, checked out nationwide well being information from Denmark and Norway. They studied individuals who began utilizing semaglutide and in contrast them with others taking a special sort of diabetes drug that helps take away sugar from the physique by way of urine.
Individuals who took semaglutide have been discovered to be virtually thrice extra prone to develop this severe optic nerve subject in comparison with these on the opposite treatment. Even so, the precise variety of circumstances was very low. Which means whereas the situation is extreme, it occurs not often, and the general danger for any particular person stays low.
Outcomes have been comparable in each nations and didn’t change a lot when examined in several methods. “Our research confirms that use of semaglutide is related to an elevated danger of non-arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy, a kind of imaginative and prescient loss not attributable to irritation however by decreased blood move to the attention nerve, but additionally that the surplus absolute danger is low,” stated Professor Pottegård. He additionally famous the danger was larger amongst individuals who stayed on the identical remedy with out switching to a different drug.
Among the analysis additionally checked out individuals who used semaglutide for weight reduction as a substitute of diabetes. Though a number of circumstances of imaginative and prescient loss have been discovered on this group too, there weren’t sufficient to make any clear conclusions. “Though our findings don’t rule out the opportunity of an elevated danger of non-arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy when utilizing semaglutide for weight problems, the low variety of noticed occasions means that any potential danger is probably going of restricted absolute magnitude,” Professor Pottegård added.
Professor Pottegård’s workforce used dependable nationwide information and a cautious research design, which is the plan for the way to conduct the analysis, to verify the comparisons have been truthful. They checked hospital and prescription information to incorporate solely related circumstances. Most individuals who expertise this sort of imaginative and prescient loss find yourself in hospital, so the researchers are assured they included practically all circumstances of their research.
“Our findings help an affiliation between use of semaglutide for sort 2 diabetes and danger of non-arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy, with a greater than two-fold elevated hazard ratio,” Professor Pottegård defined. A hazard ratio is a measure used to check how usually a well being occasion occurs in a single group versus one other over time. “Nonetheless, absolutely the danger of this situation stays low amongst semaglutide customers. Analyses of an affiliation between semaglutide for weight problems and non-arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy have been inconclusive.”
Professor Pottegård and colleagues urged warning when decoding the outcomes. Any such research doesn’t show that semaglutide causes the situation—it solely exhibits that the 2 seem like linked. Additionally they famous that the variety of imaginative and prescient loss circumstances was too small to know which teams of individuals may be at higher danger.
Even with these limitations, this research provides to rising efforts to higher perceive how protected semaglutide actually is. One earlier research raised an identical concern however targeted solely on sufferers referred for particular eye exams, which can not replicate the common consumer. The present research offers a broader image by together with on a regular basis customers from throughout the inhabitants.
Utilizing semaglutide is changing into extra widespread, not only for managing diabetes but additionally as a weight reduction help. This makes it much more vital to know any doable dangers. Professor Pottegård say that if there’s a danger, it should be weighed in opposition to the recognized advantages of semaglutide in serving to handle long-term well being circumstances associated to blood sugar. Extra research are wanted to see if the identical sample seems amongst folks utilizing the drug for weight reduction and to discover whether or not sure people are extra weak than others.
Journal Reference
Simonsen E., Lund L.C., Ernst M.T., Hjellvik V., Hegedüs L., Hamann S., Jørstad Ø.Ok., Gulseth H.L., Karlstad Ø., Pottegård A. “Use of semaglutide and danger of non-arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy: A Danish–Norwegian cohort research.” medRxiv, 2024. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1101/2024.12.09.24318574
Picture Reference
Concerning the Writer
Professor Anton Pottegård is a scientific pharmacologist and pharmacoepidemiologist primarily based on the College of Southern Denmark. With a background in pharmacy and a doctorate in pharmacoepidemiology, he leads analysis targeted on drug security, real-world medication use, and the long-term results of generally prescribed therapies. His work usually attracts on large-scale well being information to uncover patterns and dangers in treatment use throughout populations. Professor Pottegård has contributed extensively to public well being by figuring out potential uncomfortable side effects of broadly used medicine, serving to information safer prescribing practices. He has been concerned in worldwide collaborations and advisory roles associated to medication monitoring and regulation. Recognized for combining rigorous science with accessible communication, he performs a key position in bridging scientific proof with on a regular basis healthcare selections. By his management in nationwide registry-based research, he continues to make clear the advantages and dangers of recent pharmacological therapies.
