Common diabetes drug may cut brain pressure

A drug commonly used to treat patients with either obesity or Type 2 diabetes could be used as a novel new way to lower brain pressure, researchers say.

A traumatic brain injury, hydrocephalus -- accumulated water in the brain -- as well as stroke can cause growing pressure inside your skull -- a major feature of Idiopathic Intracranial Hypertension (IIH).

IHH causes disabling daily headaches and severely raised pressure around the nerves in the eye. The findings showed that GLP-1 agonist drugs -- 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.

"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," said Alexandra Sinclair, from the University of Birmingham.

"They are also potentially game-changing for other conditions featuring raised brain pressure, including stroke, hydrocephalus and traumatic brain injury," Sinclair added, in the paper published in the journal Science Translational Medicine.

Current primary treatment in IIH is acetazolamide, which does not work well for many patients, with severe side effects. "We are very excited that this novel treatment strategy could make a landmark change for future patient care," Sinclair said. The researchers are now due to begin a clinical trial to test GLP-1 agonist drug in patients with raised brain pressure.