Swiss study adds to concern about GLP-1 agonists link to vision issues
- kenashman
- May 13
- 1 min read
Juta Medical Brief 16 April 2025
Using real-world data from more than 300 000 cases, scientists have uncovered a significant link between semaglutide and reported vision problems, raising new concerns about the safety profile of this blockbuster medication.
The findings by the team from the University of Bern, Switzerland, were published in the journal BMC Medicine.
Semaglutide is widely prescribed as an anti-diabetic medicine that acts as a glucagon-like peptide 1 receptor agonist (GLP-1 RA) for the treatment of type 2 diabetes and obesity.
A 2024 study by Hathaway et al, which investigated more than 16 000 patients over a period of six years, first raised ocular safety issues related to semaglutide. It found that the medicine can potentially increase the risk of non-arteritic anterior ischaemic optic neuropathy (NAION), a potentially vision-threatening condition.
The Hathaway study reported higher hazard ratios for NAION in patients with obesity (7.64) compared with those with type 2 diabetes (4.28).
However, the current analysis of FDA data did not directly compare risks between these groups, reports News.Medical-net.
Given the rapidly increasing use of semaglutide and other GLP-1 RAs worldwide, these observations warrant further investigation.
In the current study, the Bern University team analysed data from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Adverse Event Reporting System, a post-marketing, open-access pharmacovigilance database. The main aim was to compare the medical reports of semaglutide-related vision impairment with those associated with other anti-diabetic and weight-loss medicines.
