Danish researchers are raising concerns about the widely prescribed diabetes drug Ozempic after discovering that it significantly increases patients’ risk of experiencing what doctors describe as a “stroke of the optic nerve.”
Ozempic Found to Double the Risk
The study findings, published in the International Journal of Retina and Vitreous, suggest that the use of Ozempic (semaglutide) more than doubles the risk of developing non-arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (NAION), a serious eye condition characterized by sudden vision loss in one eye, because of inadequate blood flow to the optic nerve. NAION is considered the most common cause of sudden vision loss in people older than 50.“You can reasonably consider it as a stroke of the optic nerve,” Dr. Joseph Rizzo III, professor of ophthalmology and director of the neuro-ophthalmology service at Harvard Medical School’s Massachusetts Eye and Ear, told The Epoch Times. “And, like a stroke, you lose function.”
