High-Fat Diet May Prove to Help Epilepsy
According to studies carried out in recent years, it appears that following a high fat diet, similar to Atkins Diet, may help in the treatment of epilepsy. Epilepsy is a neurological disorder that leads to seizures. A person is diagnosed with epilepsy if they have at least two seizures unrelated to another medical condition. Researchers have found significant evidence that show children who follow a high fat diet have reduced epileptic episodes in which medications have not previously worked to control.
The mechanism is still not clearly defined, however, it appears to work by causing the body to burn fat instead of sugar for energy, also known as ketosis. Carbohydrates are for the most part restricted, which is normally your body’s primary energy source. By eliminating carbohydrates, your body is then forced to use fat for energy, causeig ketones to be produced.
The trial consisted of 145 children between the ages of 2 and 16 who had never followed a high fat diet of this nature. Each of the children involved in the study had at least seven seizures per week and failed to respond with anticonvulsant drugs. The children were broken into two groups. The first group was placed on the diet right away, while the control group did not start the diet until 3 months after the first group. The first group’s results showed 38 percent of the participants reduced their seizures by half, while only 6 percent reduced their seizures in the control group.
The diet needs to be medically supervised, however it does allow for a more manageable treatment. Some side effects do come with the treatment, some of which include kidney stones, high cholesterol, constipation, slowed growth, bone fractures, and dehydration. Aside from the side effects, it seems to be an important breakthrough in the treatment of epileptic children who have failed to respond to medication.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/06/health/research/06epil.html?_r=1&adxnnl=1&oref=slogin&ref=science&adxnnlx=1210393377-0VBxlA02WSCBjcAZsqy4YQ
http://www.epilepsy.com/epilepsy/treatment_ketogenic_diet
http://www.epilepsy.com/101/ep101_epilepsy
Post By: Meaghan Elliott
posted by PWH @ 12:28 AM
4 comments
4 Comments:
That was a very interesting and surprising post. I never would of thought a different diet would effect the amount of seizures an epileptic person has. But I guess its very similar with diabetes. As long as people are careful of what they eat, they do not have to or rarely take insulin. Great post.
Posted by: Christine McConville
Considering the dangerous side effects of this diet, do you think that it is worth it? In other words, epilepsy can be fatal but most epileptic patients do not have seizures everyday,thus would they have a greater chance to survive longer with this condition or by adopting this diet? Great post though.
Posted by Vanessa Raphael
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A hormone that has to do with apetite control, with receptors in the brain, called leptin, is actually produced in fat. Aside from the explanation you posted, it would be interesting to see if maybe there are other components causing a reduction in epilepsy, such as hormones or enzymes being triggered by the increase in fat.
- Julio Rodriguez
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