With over 38 million Americans currently diagnosed with diabetes, it is one of the most prevalent chronic conditions.
Primarily described as a disease in which the blood sugar levels are too high, diabetes is currently an incurable illness that causes many different complications that can drastically impact a patient’s quality of life. Two of the most common and serious diabetic complications are obesity and eye disorders.
Currently, up to 86% of all diabetics are overweight or obese. At the same time, the majority of diabetics have serious ocular problems , including glaucoma. In fact, diabetics are twice as likely to develop this than non-diabetics. This is worrying, considering that glaucoma is one of the leading causes of preventable blindness around the world.
As it happens, recent studies have found that GLP-1 agonists may hold the key to not only addressing diabetes-related obesity but also glaucoma.
GLP-1s current use and impact
GLP-1 agonists, also called GLP-1s for short, mimic the body’s glucagon-like peptide hormones that stimulate insulin production. Available as injectables and oral medicines, these help regulate blood sugar levels. Unlike natural GLP-1, which only lasts about two to three minutes after release, the drug form can last up to 14 hours. This means that its benefits are also longer-lasting. Interestingly, the drug has also been found to influence appetite, which is helpful since weight gain is an issue for many diabetics. In fact, GLP-1 for weight loss has become an in-demand obesity intervention, even among those who are not diabetic. According to experts, when the agonist interacts with brain receptors, it helps curb hunger and slow stomach emptying. As a result, patients are less likely to overeat. This can result in up to 15% of body weight loss. In light of this and the obesity epidemic, patients who have a BMI over 30 are considered eligible to receive GLP-1 prescriptions.
Among some patients who are considered pre-diabetic because of their excess weight, doctors may similarly choose to prescribe a GLP-1 as a proactive measure. As explained in our previous post, obesity often means having a pronounced amount of adipose tissue. Too much of this fat in the endocrine system produces a surplus of hormones that destabilize the body’s balance. In the long run, this can cause disorders like insulin resistance and Type 2 diabetes. So, by using GLP-1s to manage weight and insulin levels in one go, patients have a much smaller chance of developing incurable endocrine conditions.
What GLP-1 for glaucoma means
As much as GLP-1 seems to already target many diabetic pain points, it seems to have more to offer. Researchers have determined that patients who were treated with GLP-1 agonists had up to a 50% lower chance of developing open-angle glaucoma. Initial findings note that the neuroprotective properties of these medications, combined with their anti-inflammatory and antioxidative abilities, can help manage interocular pressure. As most know, too much pressure build-up behind the eye due to an ineffective corneal drainage system can hurt the optic nerve. If left untreated, this nerve will eventually degrade, causing irreversible vision loss.
In combination with other traditional interocular pressure-reducing medications, injectable and oral GLP-1s for glaucoma may soon be a mainstream solution for glaucoma patients. Even among patients who’ve already incurred some vision loss due to the disease, the use of GLP-1 agonists can reportedly help prevent symptoms from worsening. If prescribed within the first three years of therapy, experts believe this approach can safeguard diabetic patients’ vision throughout their clinical management. That said, the researchers behind these findings state that there have yet to be any wider human trials that can verify this efficacy across all diabetic demographics. Nevertheless, until such time, GLP-1s potential as a glaucoma medication bodes well for diabetics and those with severe vision concerns alike.
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