Serious side effects. Ozempic, an anti-diabetic drug adopted by many people for its slimming properties, carries greater risks of blindness than other treatments of the same type. The results two new studies carried out by scientists in Denmark and Norway and published on December 11 concluded that diabetic patients who treated themselves with Ozempic were actually twice as likely to contract non-arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (NAION), c ‘that is to say a serious disease of the optic nerve. This often results in significant loss of vision.
Taking semaglutide, the scientific name of the substance present in Ozempic, would therefore be more dangerous in this aspect than another equivalent medication. “We looked at data from 424,152 Danes with type 2 diabetes. […] We found that Ozempic more than doubles the risk of NAION”, specifies on the website of the University of Southern Denmark Jakob Grauslund, professor specializing in eye diseases at the establishment’s research center. “At the same time, we at the clinic noticed that since Ozempic came to the market in 2018, the number of NAION cases in Denmark has increased.”
Two different methods but similar results
This research comes a few months after the publication on July 3 from a previous American study on the question. This led to even more alarming conclusions. According to this work, diabetic patients subjected to treatment with semaglutide developed this eye disease four times more than patients not treated with this drug. “What this shows is an association between taking semaglutide and the development of this disease with which you lose vision”, had explained on NBC News in July, Dr. Joseph Rizzo, who led this study.
The studies in Norway and Denmark used different methods from each other, but ultimately produced similar results on increased risk of blindness. Conclusions that nevertheless need to be qualified, according to the scientists who carried out this work. “It must be emphasized that these are neither more serious nor more frequent side effects than the rare side effects of many other drugs that we continue to use,” says – still on the website of the University of Denmark South – Anton Pottegård, pharmacy professor who supervised the Norwegian study.
Ozempic, like the drug Wegovy, another semaglutide-based drug, has enjoyed tremendous success in recent years for its ability to enable rapid weight loss. On social networks, many Internet users praise their slimming capabilities, presented as revolutionary. The Danish pharmaceutical laboratory giant Novo Nordisk has been marketing Ozempic in France since 2019. The French health authorities announced at the beginning of 2023 to put this product “under reinforced surveillance”, while “reports from the field [faisaient] state of misuse” of it.