Summary
A new study links GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic to serious eye conditions, including nonarteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (NAION), which can lead to blindness.
Researchers reviewed nine cases where patients developed vision problems after starting semaglutide or similar medications.
While the study does not prove causation, scientists suspect the drugs may contribute to these issues by rapidly lowering blood sugar or affecting optic nerve cells.
Experts call for more research and suggest that adjusting dosage rates might help mitigate potential risks for high-risk patients.
Awww man. We can’t have magic drugs in our cyberpunk future? Hopefully they nail down what’s going on.
It’s a 9-person study. This is like the articles about bone density loss for these drugs (same as losing significant weight any other way, mitigated by exercise).
These articles blow up and are widely shared due to our thirst for comeuppance, that people taking a “shortcut” will end up getting cancer someday and look like fools.
I believe these drugs aren’t without risk and these links should be studied, but it would have to be orders of magnitude more prevalent to offset the good it’s done.
I find the kneejerk cravings for scary downsides to be on par with Big Tobacco vape messaging or vaccine skepticism, and, at its root, I think it has some Puritanical holier-than-thou elements since the fatties didn’t suffer or risk enough.
Edit: This isn’t directed at the scientists, rather the concern trolling on social media.
Right, my thought was close, “oh no, you mean to tell me the definitely-too-good-to-be-true drug turned out to be too good to be true”? I’m shocked, shocked!
Cyborg eyes will fix this issue.