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<\/p>\nPatients using Wegovy face a risk of sudden vision loss nearly five times greater than those prescribed Ozempic, new research published in the British Journal of Ophthalmology has revealed.<\/p>\n
The large-scale investigation, conducted by Canadian researchers, examined adverse event reports submitted to the US Food and Drug Administration between December 2017 and December 2024.<\/p>\n
Both medications contain the active ingredient semaglutide, manufactured by Novo Nordisk, yet the study identified a striking disparity in their association with non-arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy.<\/p>\n
Male patients demonstrated a threefold elevated risk compared to women, according to the findings.<\/p>\n
Both Wegovy and Ozempic contain the active ingredient semaglutide<\/p>\n
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Dr Edward Margolin, from the University of Toronto’s ophthalmology department and a study author, stated that this condition was likely to be “a real side-effect” of semaglutide.<\/p>\n
The condition, commonly referred to as an “eye stroke,” occurs when blood flow to the optic nerve becomes restricted, typically resulting in sudden and permanent vision loss.<\/p>\n
While the risk remains rare, affecting approximately one in 10,000 semaglutide users, the study identified what researchers described as “a potential dose-dependent safety concern”.<\/p>\n
Wegovy is administered at doses up to 2.4mg weekly for obesity treatment, compared with Ozempic’s maximum 2mg weekly dose for type 2 diabetes management.<\/p>\n
The researchers suggested that Wegovy’s higher dosage and the faster-acting nature of injections could account for the stronger association with vision problems.<\/p>\n
Notably, the oral tablet form Rybelsus showed no detectable link to the condition, which the authors attributed to its slower absorption rate and limited uptake.<\/p>\n
The UK Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency issued a drug safety update last month, alerting healthcare professionals and patients to the risk of this optic nerve condition.<\/p>\n
The warning followed similar guidance from European medicines regulators.<\/p>\n
Dr Alison Cave, the MHRA’s chief safety officer, said: “The risk of Naion in patients prescribed semaglutide is extremely low. <\/p>\n
“However, as with all medicines, patients and prescribers need to be aware of the symptoms of potential side-effects, even if the risk is very small, to ensure patients receive the appropriate treatment promptly should they occur.”<\/p>\n
The regulatory intervention underscores the importance of vigilance among both clinicians and those taking these increasingly popular weight-loss and diabetes medications.<\/p>\n
Samantha Mann, a consultant ophthalmologist and diabetic eye screening lead at the Royal College of Ophthalmologists, said: “This study relied on reported side-effects and so cannot prove causation or determine how common this problem truly is.<\/p>\n
“An increase in this form of optic nerve ‘stroke’ has, however, not been widely observed in routine clinical practice at St Thomas’ in London, where I work. Further studies are therefore needed to clarify if this increased risk is indeed real.”<\/p>\n
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Eye stroke occurs when blood flow to the optic nerve becomes restricted<\/p>\n
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Novo Nordisk maintained that patient safety remained their foremost concern and that they work closely with regulatory authorities worldwide to monitor their products.<\/p>\n
The pharmaceutical company has updated EU patient information leaflets for Wegovy, Ozempic and Rybelsus to include the condition.<\/p>\n
However, Novo Nordisk stated they believe the overall evidence does not establish a causal link and that semaglutide’s benefit-risk profile remains favourable.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Patients using Wegovy face a risk of sudden vision loss nearly five times greater than those prescribed Ozempic,…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":648214,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[210,1165,1060,50,1156,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-648213","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-medication","8":"tag-health","9":"tag-lifestyle","10":"tag-medication","11":"tag-news","12":"tag-sgg","13":"tag-united-states","14":"tag-unitedstates","15":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116211116079539719","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/648213","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=648213"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/648213\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/648214"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=648213"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=648213"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=648213"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}