Wegovy — The Fight: Diabetes Or Your Eyes
If you are overweight or suffer from type 2 diabetes, you most likely have heard of Ozempic. Another medicine with the main ingredient semaglutide, Wegovy, has been specifically approved for weight loss at slightly higher dosages. Medications like these are potentially lifelong; signs indicate that stopping can cause blood sugar to spike. Semaglutide mimics glucagon‑like peptide‑1 (GLP‑1), a peptide hormone that helps regulate insulin and blood sugar. In layman’s terms, it slows digestion and reduces appetite, helping you feel full longer.
Are Semaglutide Medications Bad?
According to Medical Xpress, a study published in the British Journal of Ophthalmology suggests there may be unexpected consequences to taking Wegovy. The study found there may be a heightened risk of eye stroke and sudden vision loss with Wegovy use, out of the semaglutide drugs. Its assessment showed that there was a rare risk linked to the use of semaglutide medications, those under review being Wegovy, Ozempic and Rybelsus. These medications are used to treat a variety of health issues, such as diabetes, obesity and cardiovascular disease risks.
Ischemic optic neuropathy (ION), the aforementioned eye stroke, is a result of blood flow being cut off or interrupted from reaching the optic nerve, causing vision loss. This blood flow can be disrupted in either eye or even both. In the search for whether the ION is caused by any of the drugs, an analysis of adverse side effects associated with the drugs is submitted to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS). The numbers were gathered from December 2017 to December 2024.
While Wegovy was approved in 2021, there were 3,070 reports connected to its use. These were reported from six countries. Ozempic was launched in 2017, with a total of 20,608 reports from 11 countries. Although Ozempic shows far more reported cases, Wegovy entered the market 3.5 years later and in five fewer countries, which affects the comparison.
More Research Is Necessary
As with any medication, research is essential in finding out what adverse effects can happen. Similar data were recorded through the Veterans Health Administration, the largest integrated health care system in the U.S., from 2018 to 2025. Their independent study was based on semaglutide and the correlation of noninflammatory-based eye stroke. The goal was to look at the data in a less diverse way by using one system with a decent pool of individuals. Veterans in the system aged 18 or older with type 2 diabetes, taking metformin, and who had started semaglutide or SGLT2i (oral only).
The data started from March 1, 2018, through March 1, 2025, beginning from the first pharmacy fill. Those who were type 1 or secondary diabetes, had been on other antidiabetic medications, or had been using insulin for 30 or more days within 10 years were excluded. Those who showed noninflammatory eye-related issues within 10 years were also excluded. The goal was to make sure each patient’s health history and lifestyle didn’t have a potential predisposition for eye problems.
They calculated that of 814,019 veterans who began either semaglutide or an SGLT2i between the seven years, only 103,361 met the necessary criteria they were looking for. 11,478 veterans were on semaglutide while 90,833 had started SGLT2i. 90,816 had taken empagliflozin, with the remaining 67 were on dapagliflozin or canagliflozin.
Veterans-Based and End Results
The overall findings of the data showed that semaglutide had a higher chance of disruption to their vision over those who took the oral daily SGLT2i, but the actual endpoint of their examination of these patients that were observed was that the incidence of eye stroke was low at 123 per 100,000 people per year, with an even lower 67 per 100,000 for those taking SGLT2i.
The final thing one must take into consideration when doing data point analysis is making sure there is nothing that can affect your results by removing those who might be predisposed or have other issues, such as multiple medications that might result in these strains. What might be most beneficial for studies such as these would be to take and cross-examine a group of patients in the same time span, without pre-existing conditions that could lead to eye problems. A larger scale and further studies are sorely needed.
