Watch Out: Ozempic May Increase the Risk of Eye Disease

The world’s buzziest diabetes drug could speed up the development of diabetic retinopathy, in accordance with a current research offered at a convention of eye well being specialists.

The outcomes, from a brand new unpublished research, have been offered on the current annual assembly of the American Society of Retina Specialists. They confirmed that GLP-1 receptor agonists, a household of medicine that features semaglutide (Ozempic, Rybelsus), dulaglutide (Trulicity), and liraglutide (Victoza), improve the chance of creating extreme ranges of diabetic eye illness.

Diabetic Retinopathy

Diabetic retinopathy is a standard complication of sort 1 and kind 2 diabetes.

The eyes and retina have many small blood vessels which are very delicate to excessive blood sugar ranges. An excessive amount of glucose within the bloodstream, the defining characteristic of diabetes, may cause these little blood vessels to swell and burst. When it will get dangerous, the retina begins to develop scar tissue and new, dysfunctional blood vessels, each of which obscure imaginative and prescient.

Diabetic retinopathy could be very treatable — which is why annual diabetic eye exams are so necessary — however within the worst instances, the situation can result in declining eyesight and even blindness. Early remedy focuses on life-style selections (like nutritious diet and train) and optimizing diabetes treatment, but when these adjustments aren’t sufficient, ophthalmologists can deal with the eyes instantly with injectable medication and lasers.

One of the simplest ways to forestall diabetic retinopathy, in accordance with the American Diabetes Affiliation, is to get your blood sugar, blood stress, and ldl cholesterol underneath management. So it’s stunning that Ozempic and comparable medication, which have highly effective metabolic advantages, would possibly make diabetic retinopathy extra more likely to happen.

Ozempic Advantages and Facet Results

Generally it would seem to be Ozempic (semaglutide) is likely to be too good to be true. The injectable drug is a sport changer for weight reduction and some of the efficient sort 2 diabetes drugs ever developed, resulting in dramatic enhancements in blood sugar, blood stress, and levels of cholesterol. Different medication in the identical class, together with the GLP-1/GIP receptor agonist tirzepatide (Mounjaro), boast a number of the identical perks.

However there’s additionally little question that Ozempic has many uncomfortable side effects. A really excessive share of customers expertise some measure of gastrointestinal misery; different signs vary from the harmful however uncommon (together with current stories of abdomen paralysis) to the purely beauty (together with hair loss and the so-called “Ozempic face”).

Semaglutide, the energetic ingredient in Ozempic, is highly effective stuff. It has a formidable impact on diabetes danger elements, however we shouldn’t be shocked that it would contain another physique adjustments, too.

Ozempic and Diabetic Retinopathy

As reported by Medscape, the brand new outcomes have been offered by Ehsan Rahimy, MD, a professor of ophthalmology at Stanford College. Dr. Rahimy shared the highest takeaways from an unpublished retrospective research of greater than 13,500 adults with sort 2 diabetes who have been utilizing both GLP-1 receptor agonists or SGLT2 inhibitors. (SGLT2 inhibitors, one other class of newer diabetes medication, can have comparable results to GLP-1s, together with decrease glucose, weight reduction, and coronary heart well being safety.)

Researchers discovered that these taking a GLP-1 have been about 50 % extra more likely to progress to both proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR) or diabetic macular edema (DME), each of that are severe levels of diabetic eye illness. They have been additionally extra more likely to require interventions comparable to injections and laser photocoagulation.

This isn’t the primary proof of a connection between semaglutide (Ozempic) and diabetic retinopathy. In accordance with Pharmacy Instances, one of many pivotal research of semaglutide discovered an elevated danger of diabetic retinopathy, and the U.S. Meals and Drug Administration (FDA) has reported {that a} considerably greater share of Ozempic customers have DR compared with customers of different GLP-1 receptor agonists.

The proof isn’t unanimous. One giant research of semaglutide discovered no such danger, and one other research offered on the current convention of retina specialists discovered that albiglutide, beforehand bought as Tanzeum and not accessible, is the one GLP-1 receptor agonist that aggravates diabetic retinopathy.

If the connection is actual, it appears potential that Ozempic’s unbelievable effectiveness explains its destructive impact on the eyes. Opposite to all expectations, speedy enchancment in glucose management can truly worsen diabetic retinopathy. That is known as “early worsening,” as a result of the eyes will worsen earlier than the key long-term advantages of higher blood sugar management turn into evident.

A dialogue of the difficulty by specialists from the American Academy of Ophthalmology steered that early worsening from Ozempic is each “momentary and manageable.” However the specialists assert that this impact ought to be given elevated scrutiny from eye medical doctors and should name for extra aggressive eye well being screening.

Takeaway

It’s potential that semaglutide (Ozempic), and maybe different GLP-1 receptor agonists, can worsen diabetic eye illness and speed up the development of diabetic retinopathy. This seems to happen even though such medication sometimes ship spectacular outcomes (together with decrease blood sugar, weight reduction, and improved blood stress) that ought to enhance eye well being.

Specialists imagine that the advantages outweigh the dangers. However in the event you’re taking Ozempic and have any historical past of diabetic retinopathy, or different issues in regards to the well being of your eyes, it is likely to be sensible to share your issues along with your physician or ophthalmologist. They might advise you to schedule a diabetic eye screening to watch the impact that your highly effective treatment is having in your eye well being.