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The weight-management drug Wegovy has actually ended up being extensively utilized and now is available in a hassle-free tablet type — however just recently, a research study flagged that the popular medication might bring a threat of “eye stroke,” Called ischemic optic neuropathy (ION), which can trigger quick vision loss.
Wegovy users should not worry, professionals informed Live Science. In the meantime, the link in between the drug and eye stroke is far from validated and the total rate of the condition is incredibly low. In the research study, released in March in the British Journal of OphthalmologyION took place in less than 1% of clients who reported experiencing negative effects when taking Wegovy.
She included that the U.K.’s Medicines and Healthcare items Regulatory Agency– the U.K. equivalent of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)– is notifying individuals who utilize semaglutide to “seek urgent medical care if they notice their eyesight getting worse quickly.”A possible signalThis isn’t the very first time a connection has actually been drawn in between weight-loss drugs and eye health issues.
An evaluation of the medical literature released in 2025 flagged a possible threat connected to semaglutide. In scientific trials and observational research studies, the drug brought a somewhat greater threat of eye stroke in those utilizing it for diabetes management compared to non-users. That danger wasn’t seen in clients utilizing the drug for weight reduction, however, and the general rate of eye stroke in semaglutide users was still low.
The brand-new BJO research study takes this existing work and digs deeper into Wegovy, among the most typical drugs considered persistent weight management. The findings revealed a connection in between Wegovy and ION, which is brought on by interrupted blood circulation to the optic nerve, triggering damage that can cause quick vision loss.
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“This is a very sudden and painless way to lose your eyesight,” Barbara Pierscionekdeputy dean of research study and development at Anglia Ruskin University in the U.K., informed Live Science. “You can lose vision in one of your eyes or both of them. We’re not quite sure exactly how it happens, but it is essentially a blockage of the blood vessels in the eye,” stated Pierscionek, who was not associated with the brand-new research study.
The group behind the research study wished to comprehend if specific weight-loss drugs provided a greater threat of ION than others. To discover, they searched reports of adverse effects related to medications that were sent to the U.S. FDA in between December 2017 and December 2024.
They recognized 31,774 reports that included semaglutide-based drugs; of those, 3,070 were credited to Wegovy and 20,608 to Ozempic. Twenty-eight of the Wegovy reports kept in mind ION, compared to 47 of the Ozempic reports.
Wegovy and Ozempic include the exact same active component.
(Image credit: The Washington Post/ Contributor through Getty Images)
Ozempic has actually been on the marketplace longer than Wegovy, having actually been authorized in 2017 while Wegovy was authorized in 2021. Factoring in this time distinction, when it concerns ION, the proportional danger was greater with Wegovy than Ozempic, the research study authors concluded.
A lesser-known semaglutide drug called Rybelsus, which is authorized for diabetes management, had no significant association with ION in the research study.
Weak points of the research studySignificantly, the negative effects reports evaluated in the research study are not validated by professionals. Rather, they serve to offer early tips about users’ experiences with a provided drug after it’s been authorized.
“The research did not study patients directly,” Brian Woodsan ophthalmology specialist at the University of Galway who wasn’t included with the research study, informed Live Science in an e-mail. “Instead, it analyzed reports submitted to a large US drug safety database where suspected side effects are logged. These systems are useful for detecting possible warning signals but they cannot determine how common a complication actually is.”
If a worrying pattern appear in the database, regulators can then introduce an official examination to see if the drug’s usage or approval status must be changed.
“The [BJO study’s] findings are based on fewer than 100 reports of ION among tens of millions of entries,” Woods stated. “Such reports are not independently verified and lack important medical details.” While this information tips at a link in between Wegovy and eye-stroke danger, more research study is required to understand if the drug straight triggers the condition.
“The adverse effect observed may be causal or may be because semaglutide is offered to people already at higher risk of ION, that is,” Adler stated. High blood pressure and cardiovascular illness are danger aspects for ION, she kept in mind. That stated, diabetes is A threat aspect for IONand Ozempic is particularly authorized for individuals with diabetes, while Wegovy is not, though some individuals with diabetes might still be qualified for it. Probably, Ozempic and Wegovy users both might be most likely to have a somewhat raised threat of ION at standard.
One distinction in between Wegovy and Ozempic is that the previous includes a greater dosage of semaglutide, however it’s uncertain if that impacts ION danger.
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“While it is biologically plausible that dose alone could be causing this, it remains unproven,” Woods stated. “At this stage, there is a significant likelihood that differences may be confounded by baseline risk and metabolic dynamics rather than dose alone. So, for now, the jury is still out on this key factor.”
If the greater dosage matters, that might be an issue due to the fact that Wegovy simply revealed a higher-dose alternative of its drug.
“An increased dose would cause an increased risk, but only to those who are vulnerable,” Pierscionek stated. “Not everybody is at risk of ION when taking these drugs,” she highlighted.
This post is for educational functions just and is not indicated to use medical guidance.
Lakhani, M., Al-Ani, A., Popovic, M., Bénard-Séguin, É., & & Margolin, E. (2026 ). Ischemic optic neuropathy with SEMAGLUTIDE: Global observational analysis of sex- and formulation-specific danger. British Journal of Ophthalmology https://doi.org/10.1136/bjo-2025-328483
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