Corticosteroids, Intracranial Pressure and the Pathogenesis of Idiopathic Intracranial Hypertension.

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Idiopathic intracranial hypertension, (IIH), is a common blinding condition in overweight women. Affected patients suffer with severe headaches and significant visual loss resulting from increased brain pressure, called intracranial pressure. The cause of raised brain pressure in IIH is not known, but it is likely to relate to abnormalities in the balance between production and drainage of brain fluid, known as cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). As greater than 90% of IIH patients are female and obese we expect that the disordered CSF balance may relate to hormones and obesity, our study will investigate this further. Initially, we will identify where and how these hormones act in the areas of the brain that are known to produce and drain CSF. We will then study the urine, serum and CSF of patients with IIH to determine which hormones and chemicals are unique to the disease. Finally, weight loss has previously been suggested as a treatment for IIH, but to date this has not been proven. A clinical study will be carried out to identify whether weight loss is truly effective in treating IIH, and if so whether this works by altering disease specific hormone levels.