London: Researchers have said that drugs that are commonly used to treat patients with either obesity or Type 2 diabetes could be used as a novel new way to lower brain pressure.
A traumatic brain injury, hydrocephalus, accumulated water in the brain, as well as stroke can cause growing pressure inside your skull which is a major feature of Idiopathic Intracranial Hypertension (IIH).
IHH causes disabling daily headaches and severely raised pressure around the nerves in the eye.
According to the study, GLP-1 agonist drugs which is used in the treatment of diabetes and obesity reduced intracranial pressure in an animal model of raised brain pressure.
Just 10 minutes of dosing of GLP-1 agonist led to rapid and dramatic reduce brain pressure by around 44 per cent, the researchers said, adding that the effects lasted for at least 24 hours.
Alexandra Sinclair, from the University of Birmingham said,"These findings are rapidly translatable into a new novel treatment strategy for IIH as GLP-1 agonists are safe and widely-used drugs used to treat diabetes and obesity."
Sinclair added,"They are also potentially game-changing for other conditions featuring raised brain pressure, including stroke, hydrocephalus and traumatic brain injury."
Current primary treatment in IIH is acetazolamide, which does not work well for many patients, with severe side effects.
Sinclair said,"We are very excited that this novel treatment strategy could make a landmark change for future patient care."
The researchers are now due to begin a clinical trial to test GLP-1 agonist drug in patients with raised brain pressure.
The study was published in the journal Science Translational Medicine.
(With IANS inputs)
