04/20/2026
GLP-1 medications seem to be everywhere these days. What started as an effective treatment for diabetes about 20 years ago has skyrocketed in the last few years because of their tremendous effects on weight loss. In fact, prescriptions for medications such as Ozempic, Wegovy, Rybelsus, Mounjaro, and Zepbound have increased by 350% since 2019 because of this. And now I am reading some promising studies showing that they may play a role in reducing dementia and Alzheimer’s!
But theses wonder drugs are not without risk. I am not going to go into all of the possible side effects because they are well documented on the unending T.V. commercials. But there are two things I let all of my patients know who take the above medications, in addition to Victoza and Trulicity, which are also GLP-1’s:
1) GLP-1’s, when taken taken for the treatment of diabetes, protect against the development of diabetic retinopathy (sickness of the blood vessels inside the eye) in those that have NO existing retinopathy, But, in those who already have some level of retinopathy already, starting a GLP-1 could make it worse!
2) Patients taking GLP-1’s, for any reason (diabetes or weight loss) have an elevated risk of developing a condition called nonarteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (NAION), which results in a painless loss of vision in one eye for which there is no treatment. Thankfully, the risk is small: about 0.2% of patients taking these drugs developed NAION. In addition, only about 2 people per 100,000 people are diagnosed with NAION every year.
Every source I came across gave the same advice. These medications are remarkable at treating diabetes and weight loss and the microvascular and cardiovascular diseases that go along with them. The benefits of these drugs far outweigh the possible side effects. However, patients should be aware of these potential problems and be in regular contact with their eye doctors, PCP’s and/or endocrinologists.
