Popular Weight Loss, Diabetic Drug Linked to Blinding Condition: Harvard Study

Being prescribed semaglutide, the active ingredient in Ozempic and Wegovy, increases a person’s chance of developing a blinding condition, a Harvard study published on Wednesday found. The JAMA Network Open study found that diabetic patients prescribed semaglutide had more than four times the chance of developing non-arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy when compared to other diabetic patients. Non-arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy, also known as NAION, occurs when the optic nerves in the eyes are damaged by insufficient blood flow, causing permanent blindness. NAION is the second most common optic neuropathy condition with the first being glaucoma. “You can reasonably consider it as a stroke of the optimal nerve. And like a stroke, you lose function, and there’s relatively little potential for recovery,” the study’s senior author, Dr. Joseph Rizzo III, professor of ophthalmology and director of neuro-ophthalmology service at the Harvard teaching hospital Massachusetts Eye and Ear, told The Epoch Times....