Trial to explore effect of weight loss drugs on idiopathic intracranial hypertension

Participants are being recruited to a clinical trial to explore the effect of weight loss drugs on idiopathic intracranial hypertension (IIH).

The IIH Advance trial – a partnership between Specsavers and the University of Birmingham – aims to recruit 86 participants with IIH who will receive regular deliveries of the weight loss drug tirzepatide (marketed as Mounjaro).

They will undergo optical coherence tomography (OCT) scans at a participating Specsavers practice at the beginning of the year-long trial, at the mid-way point, and at the end of the trial. These scans will monitor papilloedema as a result of intracranial pressure.

People with a diagnosis of IIH who have papilloedema and live in the UK are able to self-nominate for the trial.

Study co-investigator, Dr Maria Lange, of the University of Birmingham, described IIH as a “debilitating condition.”

“As GLP-1 medicines such as Mounjaro have become available for weight management through the NHS, we hope that the IIH Advance trial will establish a link between losing weight using these drugs and reducing the symptoms of IIH,” she said.

Specsavers director of professional advancement, Paul Morris, welcomed the collaboration with University of Birmingham.

“IIH is a serious condition that can lead to blindness, and the role that community optometrists and their skilled teams can play in harnessing technology to detect serious eye conditions is pivotal. That’s why regular sight tests are so important,” he said.

The patient perspective

Retired civil servant, Liz Formby, MBE, has lived with a diagnosis of IIH for the past three decades.

IIH has meant that she has had to adapt some of her activities – avoiding environments with moving lights and loud or sudden noises.

Formby is hopeful about the insight that could be gained from the upcoming trial.

“Anything that can help both inform and help reduce the debilitating outcome of having IIH will be so worthwhile for the person with it. It is also vital that those across the medical spectrum understand more about IIH and can recognise it, to get the help that is needed for the patient,” she said.