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Comment by lawlessone | Hacker News Reader

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).

Lowering blood sugar below normal levels is hardly unique to semaglutide or GLP1s in general. Most drugs targetting type 2 diabetes can do so and sometimes need to be adjusted to prevent hypoglycemic events. Insulin in particular poses a significant risk of hypoglycemic events which is why many insurances cover continuous glucose monitors for those taking insulin.

GLP1 agonists on its own, has a very low chance of cause significant hypoglycemia because it's action the blood glucose dependent. It almost exclusively happens when patient are taking another agent is taking a diabetic medication that has a proven track record of causing hypoglycemia on it's own

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

> seems better to take it than not.

If you have debilitating diabetes that has failed to respond to changes in exercise and diet. If your taking the drug as some type of "weight loss short cut" you should possibly reconsider that position.

Different damages, one is on blood vessels, the other on optic nerve. So you could even get both

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