Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Ozempic increases risk of debilitating eye condition: studies

sdu.dk

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

11–20 of 107 posts

Re: Ozempic increases risk of debilitating eye condition: studies

#11

Post by Baeocystin »

lawlessone wrote: post #7
compiler-guy wrote: post #3

Important to note that this side effect is still very rare and that we still use drugs with similarly serious and rare side effects. The authors of the study do not recommend abandoning these drugs, rather we should understand and manage the risks.

Doesn't untreated diabetes also cause blindness in some people? definitely seems better to take it than not.

It does. High blood sugar levels are hard on every system in the body.

One thing about semaglutide is that it can lower blood sugar levels past normal, too. One of my diabetic friends had to lower her dose of Ozempic precisely for this reason. In general, it wouldn't surprise me if pathologies that involve ischemia could be exacerbated by a treatment that lowers energy supply as well.

Re: Ozempic increases risk of debilitating eye condition: studies

#12

Post by nwienert »

monero-xmr wrote: post #9

If you literally cannot stop yourself from being obese any other way, then Ozempic and similar may be a good choice. But the side effects are large. You can never, ever stop taking it. We don't know what being on it for decades causes. There are anecdotes that it numbs you out emotionally. There are no shortcuts in life. There is always a tradeoff.

1) Side effects not much more than the most tame of drugs, like aspirin. This one, if it exists, is incredibly rare.

2) You can stop taking it, obviously. Just like any medicine, the effects will wear off, but there's no rebound effect or risky side effect from coming off. You simply return to your previous state.

3) There's more positive anecdotes than negative basically wherever you look. I have a friend who took it and while he lost 20% of weight, he plateau'd - I asked him if he was going to cycle off it and his answer was an emphatic no - I asked why, he said beyond the positive weight effects it: massively curbed his weed addiction, curbed his social media addiction, improved his sleep, and because his compulsive behaviors were down he was doing better at work, reading books for the first time in years, and going to therapy which had helped his dating life. No joke, I was floored at how ridiculous the answer sounded, especially as this was a pretty bro-y friend. Yet I've heard many anecdotes like this from others, one friend stopped a 15-year pack-a-day cigarette addiction they'd had since high school.

4) Some of the other positive trade-offs: reduces addictive behavior, heals heart/bones/brain, dramatically reduces inflammation and can fix inflammatory disorders, positive early studies for Alzheimer's and Parkinson's, etc.

5) There may be no completely free lunches, but there are nearly-free lunches all the time for people with ailments. If I have debilitating GERD, there are antacids that essentially save my life with only mild side-effects. If I have bad eyesight, glasses are a miracle cure. This is all over medicine. If I'm getting surgery, 100/100 people will choose the mild side-effects of anesthetics over the pain.

Re: Ozempic increases risk of debilitating eye condition: studies

#13

Post by bshepard »

monero-xmr wrote: post #9

If you literally cannot stop yourself from being obese any other way, then Ozempic and similar may be a good choice. But the side effects are large. You can never, ever stop taking it. We don't know what being on it for decades causes. There are anecdotes that it numbs you out emotionally. There are no shortcuts in life. There is always a tradeoff.

Human civilization is built on the creation of shortcuts. Insulin is a shortcut for T1 diabetics to avoid death.

Re: Ozempic increases risk of debilitating eye condition: studies

#14

Post by qclibre22 »

Appears to be two science research papers:

Paper: https://www.sdu.dk/-/media/files/om_sdu/fakulteterne/sundhed... "Once-weekly semaglutide doubles the five-year risk of nonarteritic anterior ischemic optic2 neuropathy in a Danish cohort of 424,152 persons with type 2 diabetes."

Preprint : https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.12.09.24318574v... "Use of semaglutide and risk of non-arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy: A Danish–Norwegian cohort study"

Re: Ozempic increases risk of debilitating eye condition: studies

#15

Post by Mistletoe »

lawlessone wrote: post #7
compiler-guy wrote: post #3

Important to note that this side effect is still very rare and that we still use drugs with similarly serious and rare side effects. The authors of the study do not recommend abandoning these drugs, rather we should understand and manage the risks.

Doesn't untreated diabetes also cause blindness in some people? definitely seems better to take it than not.

And obesity has passed smoking as the leading cause of preventable death in the US.

Re: Ozempic increases risk of debilitating eye condition: studies

#16

Post by monero-xmr »

bshepard wrote: post #13
monero-xmr wrote: post #9

If you literally cannot stop yourself from being obese any other way, then Ozempic and similar may be a good choice. But the side effects are large. You can never, ever stop taking it. We don't know what being on it for decades causes. There are anecdotes that it numbs you out emotionally. There are no shortcuts in life. There is always a tradeoff.

Human civilization is built on the creation of shortcuts. Insulin is a shortcut for T1 diabetics to avoid death.

Perhaps a better phrasing would be, "There is no free lunch." If you prefer to take Ozempic rather than monitoring caloric intake and exercising, then there are consequences. But if the consequences are worth it, is up to the individual.

Re: Ozempic increases risk of debilitating eye condition: studies

#17

Post by xattt »

Baeocystin wrote: post #11
lawlessone wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Doesn't untreated diabetes also cause blindness in some people? definitely seems better to take it than not.

It does. High blood sugar levels are hard on every system in the body. One thing about semaglutide is that it can lower blood sugar levels past normal, too. One of my diabetic friends had to lower her dose of Ozempic precisely for this reason. In general, it wouldn't surprise me if pathologies that involve ischemia could be exacerbated by a treatment that lowers energy supply as well.

Obesity goes hand in hand with hypertension, so this is a double-whammy for organs with particularly sensitive microstructures (like eyes but also kidneys).

Re: Ozempic increases risk of debilitating eye condition: studies

#18

Post by jdietrich »

compiler-guy wrote: post #3

Important to note that this side effect is still very rare and that we still use drugs with similarly serious and rare side effects. The authors of the study do not recommend abandoning these drugs, rather we should understand and manage the risks.

Also important to note that these studies are observational and do not prove causation. While the authors attempted to correct for covariates, it is highly likely that the patients who received semaglutide were generally sicker than those who did not.

While further study is necessary and some degree of caution may be warranted, it is still entirely plausible that semaglutide has no causal influence on NAION.

Re: Ozempic increases risk of debilitating eye condition: studies

#19

Post by Barrin92 »

bshepard wrote: post #13
monero-xmr wrote: post #9

If you literally cannot stop yourself from being obese any other way, then Ozempic and similar may be a good choice. But the side effects are large. You can never, ever stop taking it. We don't know what being on it for decades causes. There are anecdotes that it numbs you out emotionally. There are no shortcuts in life. There is always a tradeoff.

Human civilization is built on the creation of shortcuts. Insulin is a shortcut for T1 diabetics to avoid death.

Civilization is built on long term sustainable practice, shortcuts in response to the lack of such practices is how civilizations burn down.

Obviously T1 diabetics need to take medication because there's not much else they can do whatever side effects that has, but the topic is obviously relevant and posted here because these drugs are currently being used/abused for weight loss. Given that sustainable, side effect free ways to lose weight exist (with many additional benefits) that is what a healthy human civilization would do, instead of opting for drugs with utterly unknown side effects, potentially really bad ones, like in this case.

Re: Ozempic increases risk of debilitating eye condition: studies

#20

Post by lnsru »

monero-xmr wrote: post #16
bshepard wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Human civilization is built on the creation of shortcuts. Insulin is a shortcut for T1 diabetics to avoid death.

Perhaps a better phrasing would be, "There is no free lunch." If you prefer to take Ozempic rather than monitoring caloric intake and exercising, then there are consequences. But if the consequences are worth it, is up to the individual.

I am the guy with an appointment with Ozempic prescribing doctor. I will seriously think about it twice. “Normal” starving does not have any very rare and very bad consequences. It’s just very very difficult.
Post reply on HN