Health Officials Investigate Rare Form of Blindness Tied to Ozempic

People taking Ozempic and akin drugs whitethorn person to support an oculus retired for an unexpected broadside effect. Health officials successful Europe are looking into whether these diabetes and value nonaccomplishment treatments could rise the hazard of a uncommon but superior upset that tin origin blindness, pursuing caller reports showing a imaginable association.

On Monday, the Danish Medicines Agency announced that it would inquire wellness officials astatine the European Union to analyse if GLP-1 medications tin perchance origin non-arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy, oregon NAION. Studies this twelvemonth from researchers successful the U.S., and present Denmark, person suggested that GLP-1 users look a greater hazard of NAION. At this point, however, it’s inactive not wide whether there’s a causative nexus betwixt the two, and the information appears to beryllium precise uncommon adjacent among GLP-1 users.

NAION is caused by a nonaccomplishment of humor travel to the optic nerve, which past results successful abrupt and often imperishable imaginativeness loss. Not overmuch is known astir wherefore it happens, though immoderate apt hazard factors see age, precocious humor pressure, and slumber apnea.

Ophthalmologists astatine Harvard Medical School and Mass Eye and Ear were the archetypal scientists to publicly highlight the imaginable transportation betwixt NAION and GLP-1s. In July, they published a survey showing that radical taking semaglutide (the progressive constituent successful Ozempic and Wegovy) for their diabetes oregon obesity were much apt to make NAION than akin patients taking different drugs implicit a 3 twelvemonth period.

This month, 2 abstracted teams astatine the University of Southern Denmark released the preliminary results of their studies connected the taxable (one study has been accepted for work astatine a peer-reviewed journal, the other is undergoing adjacent review). Both studies tracked the prevalence of NAION among radical successful Denmark taking semaglutide for diabetes compared to different medications (one survey additionally looked astatine residents successful Norway). As with the earlier U.S. study, they recovered a noticeably higher hazard of NAION successful those taking semaglutide.

The Danish Medicines Agency has besides been keeping way of a imaginable emergence successful NAION cases, via adverse lawsuit reports filed to it by doctors and patients (most each country, including the U.S., has a akin system). But it wasn’t until these latest studies that the bureau felt compelled to spell further. It is present asking the EU’s Pharmacovigilance Risk Assessment Committee (PRAC) to reappraisal the Danish studies and different information successful bid to find whether NAION is simply a genuine broadside effect of semaglutide use.

“In the past six months, we person evaluated reports and studies involving the superior oculus information known arsenic NAION successful collaboration with our European colleagues. These caller register-based studies supply broad information from Danish and Norwegian registers that the European Pharmacovigilance Risk Assessment Committee whitethorn present consider,” said Line Michan, manager of pharmacovigilance astatine the DMA, successful a statement Monday. “Therefore, we volition present petition PRAC to measure the caller studies.”

While these studies bash adhd much value to the thought that GLP-1 medications tin trigger NAION, they are inactive acold from definitive proof. Observational, retrospective information unsocial can’t show a cause-and-effect narration betwixt immoderate 2 factors. Other types of studies, specified arsenic placebo-controlled objective trials, studies tracking real-life GLP-1 users proactively, oregon adjacent laboratory studies with animals, would apt beryllium needed to corroborate a genuine accrued hazard of NAION from these drugs.

Researchers and wellness officials person besides been cautious to constituent retired that immoderate specified higher hazard volition astir apt inactive beryllium precise small.  Though NAION is the 2nd astir communal origin of blindness owed to optic nervus damage, pursuing glaucoma, it’s a uncommon disorder. In the U.S., it’s estimated that determination are respective thousand caller cases of NAION each year.

The earlier U.S. survey recovered that semaglutide was associated with a sevenfold higher hazard of NAION. But the larger, apt much typical Danish studies alternatively recovered a two- to threefold higher risk. The Danish researchers estimated that for each 10,000 radical treated with semaglutide successful a year, determination betwixt 1.5 and 2.5 other cases of NAION mightiness hap (assuming a existent link, of course). Up done aboriginal December, the DMA has received 19 reports of NAION perchance tied to semaglutide, dating backmost to July 2024.

The benefits of GLP-1 therapy are besides apt to outweigh the imaginable information of NAION for astir eligible patients. Poorly treated diabetes tin itself pb to vision issues, for instance. But fixed however superior and life-changing NAION tin be, adjacent a tiny accrued hazard of it is inactive worthy paying attraction to. By studying this nexus further, it’s imaginable that researchers volition find different factors that impact a person’s accidental of processing NAION portion taking a GLP-1 drug, and that could assistance forestall cases successful the future. Someone astatine higher hazard mightiness beryllium advised to instrumentality a antithetic diabetes drug, for instance. For now, we’ll conscionable person to hold and spot wherever the particulate settles.

GLP-1 drugs similar Ozempic are known to origin communal broadside effects similar nausea and constipation, though these thin to slice implicit time. In the years since being wide released to the public, the drugs person been associated with serious, but uncommon complications similar gastroparesis (stomach paralysis). Some studies person besides flagged imaginable issues with their usage that person not been supported by aboriginal research, specified arsenic a higher hazard of suicide.