New drug to lower brain pressure could treat blinding IIH headaches, trial finds
Patients with ‘blinding’ headaches known as Idiopathic Intercranial Hypertension (IIH) could be treated with an injectable peptide used for type 2 diabetes, a new trial has found.
The study, published in the journal Brain, reports on a phase two trial of a drug called exenatide, a GLP-1 receptor agonist, as a potential treatment for IIH.
The IIH Pressure Trial led by a team of neurologists from the University of Birmingham and University Hospitals Birmingham found that for the seven patients who received regular injections of the drug, currently approved for use in Type 2 Diabetes, led to a drop in pressure in the brain during both short (2.5hrs and 24hrs) and long term (12 weeks) measurements.
The trial also saw significant reductions in the numbers of headaches across the 12 weeks that participants took part, with an average of 7.7 fewer days per month of headaches compared to the baseline, compared to only 1.5 fewer days in the placebo arm.
