Eating behaviour and nutrition in IIH
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Eating behaviour and nutrition of patients with Idiopathic Intracranial Hypertension
IRAS ID
301022
Contact name
Denize Atan
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Bristol
Duration of Study in the UK
4 years, 4 months, 1 days
Research summary
Idiopathic intracranial hypertension (IIH) is a condition defined by raised pressure inside the head despite normal brain imaging and normal brain cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) constituents. Its prevalence in the UK is rising due to increasing levels of obesity, the main risk factor for IIH.
Individuals with IIH experience disabling headaches and vision loss. For most people, IIH is managed solely by weight loss. Some patients are also prescribed medications like Topiramate and Acetazolamide. These drugs reduce the production of CSF, and thereby reduce the pressure. Both medications also affect taste and appetite. We think that the effect of these medications on taste and appetite might help patients with IIH lose weight.
The aim of this project is to assess the taste, eating behaviour and nutrition of patients with IIH. We aim to find out whether Topiramate and Acetazolamide have any influence on the eating behaviour and nutrition of patients taking these medications. We will do this by comparing two groups of patients - IIH patients who are dieting to lose weight and IIH patients who are dieting as well taking medications like acetazolamide or topiramate. Each participant will be asked to complete several online questionnaires and tasks which assess eating behaviour, nutrition, health and taste. The results of the two groups of patients will be compared.
We hope that the results of this project will help us to plan a large randomized clinical trial designed to assess the effect of IIH medications on the eating behaviour and nutrition of IIH patients alongside their vision and headaches. We hope the results will help us to understand the factors that influence IIH so that we can design better treatments in future.
REC name
London - Bromley Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
21/PR/0848
Date of REC Opinion
22 Jul 2021
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion