Glaucoma Drug And Weight Loss Helps Restore Lost Vision In Women

A study funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) found that acetazolamide, an inexpensive glaucoma drug, can help restore and improve vision in women with idiopathic intracranial hypertension (IIH) when used along with a weight loss regimen.

Michael Wall, professor of neurology and ophthalmology at the University of Iowa in Iowa City, said, “Our results show that acetazolamide can help preserve and actually restore vision for women with IIH, when combined with a moderate but comprehensive dietary and lifestyle modification plan.”

Idiopathic intracranial hypertension (IIH), also called pseudotumor cerebri, predominantly affects overweight women of reproductive age. The condition’s predominant symptoms include headaches and visual complaints including blind spots, poor side vision, and temporary episodes of blindness. IIH affects about 100,000 patients in the U.S. About 5 to 10 percent of women with IIH experience disabling vision loss.

Acetazolamide is a glaucoma drug known under the brand name Diamox. The drug is commonly prescribed for IIH but little data exists on whether it helps to eliminate vision loss associated with the condition. The IIH Treatment Trial assessed the benefits of acetazolamide when added to a weight loss plan over six months, compared to those on a weight loss plan with a placebo pill. While patients in both treatment groups reported improvement in vision, those who received Diamox experienced the greatest improvement.

“This study provides a much-needed evidence base for using acetazolamide as an adjunct to weight loss for treating IIH. The drug has been around since the 1950s, and prior studies have found varying degrees of efficacy. One strength of our study is that we slowly introduced patients to the highest tolerated dose, in an attempt to maximize efficacy while limiting its side effects,” Professor Wall said.

Participants in the trial will be followed for five years to gauge their ability to maintain healthy weight and control symptoms over a long-term period. The trial was coordinated by the Neuro-Ophthalmology Research Disease Investigator Consortium (NORDIC) and funded by the NIH’s National Eye Institute. Results of the trial will be published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.