Ozempic Causing Blindness And Alternative Medication To Ozempic

In the course of time, a man experienced hemorrhaging in his right eye after taking tirzepatide, the active constituent in Mounjaro, for a year to manage his type 2 diabetes.

However, researchers observed that the precise cause of patients' vision loss is still unknown, as they were unable to establish a cause-and-effect relationship between the medications and the resulting ocular complications.

Rather, they proposed that semaglutide and tirzepatide could potentially lead to vision loss by abruptly lowering blood sugar levels, which could potentially damage blood vessels in the eyes.

Seven of the patients in the report experienced non-arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (NAION), an uncommon eye condition that typically results in sudden vision loss in one eye and is caused by a lack of sufficient blood flow to the optic nerve.

The remaining patient was diagnosed with paracentral acute middle maculopathy, a condition resulting from a lack of blood supply to the retina, while one patient was diagnosed with papillitis, an inflammation of the optic nerve.

A spokesperson for Novo Nordisk, the manufacturer of Ozempic and Wegovy, stated, "Patient safety is our foremost concern, and we treat all reports of adverse events associated with our medications with the utmost gravity."

"The decision to initiate treatment with prescription-only medicines should be made in consultation with a healthcare professional who should conduct a benefit-risk evaluation for the patient in question, balancing the potential risks with the benefits of treatment."

Eye conditions are widely recognized as comorbidities among individuals with diabetes.

"The study concludes that there was no established causal relationship between the eye conditions that the patients experienced and semaglutide."

"At this time, Novo Nordisk is of the opinion that the benefit-risk profile of semaglutide remains unchanged."

"Patient safety is Lilly's foremost concern, and we actively monitor, evaluate, and report safety information for all of our medicines to the UK MHRA. We also encourage healthcare professionals and others to do so through the MHRA Yellow Card adverse event reporting process," stated a spokesperson for Eli Lilly, the manufacturer of Mounjaro according to The Sun.

Alternative Medication To Ozempic

Metformin, an antidiabetic agent, was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 1994 for treating type 2 diabetes.

This medication comes in both immediate- and extended-release formulations and is often combined with other antidiabetic agents. The off label indications of metformin include managing gestational diabetes, addressing weight gain issues caused by antipsychotic medication, preventing type 2 diabetes, and treating and preventing polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS).

Metformin is currently the only antidiabetic medication for prediabetes recommended by the American Diabetes Association (ADA). Furthermore, regarding potential indications, researchers are studying metformin for its possible antiaging, anticancer, and neuroprotective effects.it emphasizes the crucial role played by the interprofessional team in effectively managing patients with diabetes.

Also Read Top 10 Foods For Healthy Diabetes Diet

There has been a recent concern that [semaglutide] and other similar medications may be associated with ophthalmic complications in recent research

A study published to JAMA Ophthalmology detailed the experiences of nine patients - aged between 37 and 77 - who experienced eye complications after taking semaglutide or tirzepatide.

One woman in her fifties with type 2 diabetes woke up with "painful vision loss in the left eye" just a day after injecting her first dose of semaglutide - - the active ingredient in diabetes jab Ozempic and fat loss drug Wegovy.

She stopped taking the medication for two months before her diabetes forced her to go back on it. Two weeks after restarting, she lost vision in her right eye as well.