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Barbara Pierscionek, Professor and Deputy Dean, Research and Innovation, Anglia Ruskin University

What is ‘eye stroke’ and why has it been linked to weight loss injections?

Cynthia A Jackson/Shutterstock.com

The phrase “eye stroke” has recently appeared in news reports about a very rare side-effect of weight-loss injections. It’s not a formal medical diagnosis, but a shorthand used to describe a condition in which reduced blood flow damages the optic nerve and causes sudden vision loss.

The phrase might be misleading. Unlike a conventional stroke – which can cause someone to lose the ability to move their limbs or speak – an eye stroke can be harder to recognise at first. Vision can be lost entirely or partially, in one or both eyes, with no numbness or paralysis.

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