Articles: Epilepsy & Keto

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Videos: Epilepsy & the Ketogenic Diet
Articles: Epilepsy & the Ketogenic Diet

 

HEREIN: INTERNET RESEARCH ABOUT EPILEPSY AND A KETOGENIC DIET

DISCLAIMER: The claims made within this website have not been evaluated by the United States Food and Drug Administration. The products and information offered both on the website and on any packaging labels or advertisements but not limited to within this website, are not approved to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent disease. The information provided within this website is for informational purposes only and is not intended as a substitute for advice from your physician or other health care professional. This also applies to any and all of our packaging to KETO-TO-GO products herein and future products coming soon. You should ALWAYS consult with a licensed health care professional before starting any diet, exercise or supplementation program, before taking any medication, or if you have or suspect you might have a health problem

Excerpts and links below

The Ketogenic Diet: Uses in Epilepsy and Other Neurologic Illnesses

Quote from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2898565

  • The ketogenic diet traditionally has been used in cases of intractable epilepsy, but it also has become established as a first-line agent in a few specific epilepsy syndromes.
  • Children with epilepsy due to mutations in GLUT-1, which transports glucose across the blood-brain barrier, suffer from seizures in infancy. If not identified and treated, they develop microcephaly, mental retardation, spasticity, and ataxia as a consequence of relative brain hypoglycemia. These children respond well to the ketogenic diet, as it is believed to provide an alternative fuel source for their central nervous system.
  • Similarly, children with pyruvate dehydrogenase (PDH) deficiency show improvements while on the ketogenic diet. PDH deficiency affects the cell’s ability to convert pyruvate to acetyl-CoA, thereby affecting the flow of precursors from glycolysis into the tricarboxylic acid cycle and limiting mitochondrial energy production.
  • Infantile spasms respond well to the ketogenic diet.
  • Another epilepsy syndrome in which the diet may be particularly useful is Dravet syndrome (also known as severe myoclonic epilepsy of infancy). This syndrome is classically described as a prolonged febrile seizure in the first 2 years of life, followed by focal-onset seizures, myoclonus, and developmental delays. Dravet syndrome is associated in many cases with mutations in the gene SCN1A, a subunit of the sodium channel.
  • The ketogenic diet is also useful in myoclonic-astatic epilepsy (Doose syndrome), which is characterized by episodes of falling sometimes preceded immediately by myoclonic jerks. Other types of generalized seizures and developmental delays occur in some of these patients.
  • The data for Dravet syndrome and myoclonic-astatic epilepsy are based on case series. Use of the diet early in the disease course is promising, but more formal trials would be beneficial, preferably with multicenter experience, given the small number of patients seen with each disorder at most centers.
  • A number of patients previously refractory to multiple anticonvulsant medications become seizure-free or maintain a significant reduction in seizure frequency even after the ketogenic diet has been discontinued, suggesting the diet may have disease-modifying effects in some people with epilepsy. No clinical factors have been identified that predict which patients will benefit most in this regard.

Quote from: www.EPILEPSY.COM

  • The ketogenic diet is a special high-fat, low-carbohydrate diet that helps to control seizures in some people with epilepsy.
  • Doctors usually recommend the ketogenic diet for children whose seizures have not responded to several different seizure medicines.
  • The typical ketogenic diet, called the "long-chain triglyceride diet," provides 3 to 4 grams of fat for every 1 gram of carbohydrate and protein.
  • Several studies have shown that the ketogenic diet does reduce or prevent seizures in many children whose seizures could not be controlled by medications.

Quote from: www.EPILEPSYSociety.org

  • The ketogenic diet is one treatment option for children with epilepsy whose seizures are not controlled with AEDs. The diet may help to reduce the number or severity of seizures and can often have positive effects on behaviour.
  • Up to 70% of people with epilepsy could have their seizures controlled with anti-epileptic drugs (AEDs). For some children who continue to have seizures, the ketogenic diet may help. However, the diet is very specialised. It should be carried out with the care, supervision and guidance of trained medical specialists.

New Study Validates Ketogenic Diet for Epilepsy Treatment in Adults

By Dr. David Perlmutter, M.D./Empowering Neurologist

Excerpt from:

http://www.drperlmutter.com/new-study-validates-ketogenic-diet-epilepsy-treatment-adults/

Epilepsy can be caused by a variety of different conditions including head trauma, infection, brain tumor, and stroke, but by and large most cases of epilepsy have no readily identifiable cause. Epilepsy affects some 2.3 million adults in America and close to half a million children. Further, about one in 26 people will be diagnosed with epilepsy at some point in their lives. It’s been estimated that there are approximately 150,000 new cases of epilepsy diagnosed in the United States each year and overall about $15.5 billion in medical costs as well as lost earnings and production are attributed to this disease.

The mainstay of treatment for epilepsy is pharmaceutical intervention. As I recently noted, more and more we are seeing surgical procedures being performed for those individuals who have not had a significant improvement with drugs. I indicated that at least some individuals are gluten sensitive and may benefit from a gluten-free diet which potentially could keep them from undergoing potentially life-threatening surgery as a treatment for their epilepsy.

But it is also important to understand that there’s another extremely effective dietary intervention that has proven itself quite useful in the treatment of epilepsy.

In 1920 a New York physician, Dr. Galen, reported at the American Medical Association convention that he had had significant success in treating epilepsy by initiating a program of fasting. At that time the only pharmaceutical interventions that were available included phenobarbital and bromides. Interestingly, the patient he treated was actually a young cousin who had aggressive seizures. On the second day of fasting the child’s epilepsy abated and did not return over the next two years of follow-up. Further studies appearing in 1923, 1926, 1928, all confirmed the effectiveness of fasting as an effective treatment for seizures.

Fasting is a way to produce a state of metabolism called ketosis. When a person is in ketosis, his or her body is utilizing fat as opposed to carbohydrate as a fuel, which, in this situation, becomes an alternative source of calories to power the brain.

To this day, a ketogenic diet, meaning a diet that is designed to increase the availability of fat while decreasing the availability of carbohydrate, remains an important tool that can be utilized in the treatment of children with epilepsy who do not have full response to medication.

Now a report, appearing several weeks ago in the journal Neurology, reveals that in fact, a ketogenic diet is also profoundly helpful in adults as well in terms of treating epilepsy. This research, published by investigators in Maryland, found that there was at least a 50% reduction in seizures in 32% of patients treated with a ketogenic diet as well as in 29% of patients who went on a modified Atkins diet. In fact, 9% of those placed on the ketogenic diet and 5% of those placed on the modified Atkins diet had a greater than 90% reduction in the frequency of their epileptic seizures. These diets were designed such that the bulk of calories, between 67% and 75%, came from fat. The study revealed that “the anticonvulsant effect occurs quickly with both diets, within days to weeks.” Interestingly, the most common side effect was weight-loss which the office indicated “maybe advantageous inpatients with obesity.”

Further, the authors revealed that only 60 to 65% of patients with epilepsy become seizure free using medication while 35% are resistant to the effects of medication. And they used these statistics to justify this study. They further stated that there has been an “exponential” growth in interest in using the ketogenic diet for the treatment of epilepsy.

The take-home message here is that patients with epilepsy have options beyond simple pharmaceutical intervention, and these include dietary changes which well-respected science is now validating as having significant efficacy. A fundamental cornerstone of the Grain Brain Program is profound reduction of carbohydrates and sugars while increasing “good” dietary fats. This approach tends to favor a low grade of ketosis which may well be the normal state of human metabolism. I have written extensively both on the site and in Grain Brain how this dietary approach has profound health-related benefits that relates to weight loss, metabolism, energy, reduction of inflammation, and even reduce risk for diabetes and cancer. This new report offers up yet another benefit to a higher fat lower carbohydrate dietary approach, in this case, for a disease that is devastating for so many.

- See more at: http://www.drperlmutter.com/new-study-validates-ketogenic-diet-epilepsy-treatment-adults/#sthash.MdFCldsO.dpuf

In closing, I (Dr. Perlmutter,) want to share with you a personal story of success I have had in my own practice. - See more at: http://www.drperlmutter.com/new-study-validates-ketogenic-diet-epilepsy-treatment-adults/#sthash.MdFCldsO.dpuf


Adult Epilepsy Diet Center

Quote from: 
https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/neurology_neurosurgery/centers_clinics/epilepsy/diet-therapy.html

Dietary therapy has been used to treat children with epilepsy for almost a century. However, this valuable treatment option has not been generally available to most adults with seizures. The modified Atkins diet is a low carbohydrate, high fat alternative to the ketogenic diet for adults, created at Johns Hopkins in 2002.

Recent studies have shown that the modified Atkins diet lowers seizure rates in nearly half of adults that try it, usually within a few months. Unlike the ketogenic diet (used mostly in children), there is no hospital stay involved, no fasting to get started, no food weighing, and no counting of calories or fluids. The diet is “modified” from the traditional Atkins diet because fats are encouraged. Adults can also lose weight on the diet if desired.

Our center, which opened in 2010, is the first ever clinic specially designed for adults with epilepsy using dietary treatments. (Read study results here.) As Johns Hopkins Hospital is one of the world leaders in dietary therapies, this is a significant advance in using diet therapy for adults. We have highly skilled dietitians and neurologists that can help customize the diet to fit your needs. Although we do not start adults on the traditional ketogenic diet, we will see adults who are already receiving the ketogenic diet but need an adult dietitian and neurologist to manage their care.

Our clinic is recommended to adults who:

  • Have epilepsy,
  • Have tried multiple medications in the past with limited success,
  • Have a vagus nerve stimulator,
  • Have been on diet therapies in the past with benefit and would like to try again,
  • Are overweight, or
  • Are awaiting epilepsy surgery or another new treatment that is not yet available.

For more information or to make an appointment, contact Dr. Mackenzie Cervenka at mcerven1@jhmi.edu or443-287-0423, ext. 3 or Dr. Eric Kossoff at ekossoff@jhmi.edu or 410-955-4259.


The Johns Hopkins Ketogenic Diet Fact Sheet

http://home.iprimus.com.au/kuekids/keto/infofact/jhkdfs.html


QUOTE FROM: THE MAYO CLINIC

Ketogenic diet. Some children with epilepsy have been able to reduce their seizures by following a strict diet that's high in fats and low in carbohydrates.

In this diet, called a ketogenic diet, the body breaks down fats instead of carbohydrates for energy. After a few years, some children may be able to stop the ketogenic diet and remain seizure-free.

Consult a doctor if you or your child is considering a ketogenic diet. It's important to make sure that your child doesn't become malnourished when following the diet.

Side effects of a ketogenic diet may include dehydration, constipation, slowed growth because of nutritional deficiencies and buildup of uric acid in the blood, which can cause kidney stones. These side effects are uncommon if the diet is properly and medically supervised.


Ketogenic Diet Has Long Track Record of Use for Epileptic Seizures

Quote from: Dr. Mercola

Authority Nutrition reviews 15 health conditions shown to respond favorably to a ketogenic diet, and that’s likely a short list.

Based on my understanding of mitochondrial health and metabolic function, a vast majority of health conditions could fall into this category. One of the conditions for which a ketogenic diet has the longest and best documented track record is epilepsy.

This diet has been effectively used to treat drug resistant epileptic seizures since the 1920s, and studies have confirmed it’s helpful for both children and adults.

In my view, it would be wise to implement a ketogenic diet as a first-line therapy, but in conventional medicine, it’s typically not considered or recommended unless the patient fails to respond to medication.

Even then, this conversation may have to be initiated by the patient, or the parent of a child with seizures. As noted in the featured article:

“Research shows that seizures typically improve in about 50 percent of epilepsy patients who follow the classic ketogenic diet. This is also known as a 4:1 ketogenic diet because it provides four times as much fat as protein and carbs combined.

The modified Atkins diet (MAD) is based on a considerably less restrictive 1:1 ratio of fat to protein and carbs. It has been shown to be equally effective for seizure control in most adults and children older than two years of age.”


The Ketogenic Diet At a Glance

Quote from: Dr. Axe - https://draxe.com/ketogenic-diet/

Ketogenic diets were developed to help improve symptoms of epilepsy, but help with many other chronic health problems.

  • Weight loss is a huge benefit of ketogenic diets due to lowered insulin levels and the body’s ability to burn stored fat.
  • Following a ketogenic diet can help prevent and even kill cancer cells.
  • Ketogenic diets have been used to treat and reverse Alzheimer’s symptoms.

Epilepsy cured when parents stop all meds and use high fat diet only

Quote from: https://healthimpactnews.com/2011/epilepsy-cured-when-parents-stop-all-meds-and-use-high-fat-diet-only/

 

Watch this video to find out how one family found a cure for the epilepsy that plagued their child by stopping medications and following the high-fat ketogenic diet. The diet together with the medications did not work – it only worked when they stopped the medications. Their original doctor had told them that their child “would be mentally challenged the rest of his life” and that he would have to take “strong medicines.” No mention or speculation is made as to why this child suddenly started developing seizures at the age of 2 (could a vaccine negative reaction have been responsible?)

The reporter unfortunately makes the mistake of saying that the ketogenic diet, which a doctor from the Mayo clinic in Rochester Minnesota prescribed, was “unconventional.” The diet has been used in treatment of epilepsy for over 80 years, and has been used extensively at Johns Hopkins Hospital since the 1920s. So when the reporter states that it was an “unusual request” for the parents to ask the doctor to take him off of all meds and trust the diet alone, it is actually not that unusual at all. Others have used the diet alone without meds to stop seizures when medications failed successfully for many years now. To learn more about the ketogenic diet and how it actually works (which is not covered in this video report), click on the links below. Also, we do not recommend Canola oil which is pictured in the video. Read about how coconut oil is being used for ketosis such as in therapy for Alzheimer’s patients.

"One little boy’s case is proof that a fatty diet also known as the ketogenic diet has the potential to cure epilepsy" - From The Christian Broadcasting Network

Video: https://healthimpactnews.com/2011/epilepsy-cured-when-parents-stop-all-meds-and-use-high-fat-diet-only/

Natural Treatment for Epilepsy

Quote from: https://www.earthclinic.com/cures/epilepsy.html

What is Epilepsy?

Epilepsy is a brain disorder that causes neurons to misfire in the brain and send out incorrect signals, ultimately classified by causing seizures. Seizures can vary between brief loss of awareness, to mood swings, to loss of body function and motor control, but these signs of epilepsy are ultimately the result of misfired brain signals. Diagnosis is usually made after brain scans.

In infants, seizures can be caused by lack of oxygen to the brain, central nervous system infections, physical trauma, or congenital abnormalities; whereas in late childhood to adults, seizures may be caused by nervous system lesions, trauma, tumors, stress, drug use, or alcohol withdrawal. In epileptics, seizures can be triggered by flashing lights, emotional stress, alcohol, and even reading. Epilepsy can be controlled with medication, but currently medicine cannot cure epilepsy.

Home Remedies to Cure Epilepsy

On this page, we have many home remedies submitted for controlling seizures, and among the bunch we are still looking for our Earth Clinic reader favorites. Users have suggested Epsom salts, coconut oil, and there are interesting discussions over aspartame as a seizure trigger as well as other dietary recommendations. One alternative medicine option seeing resurgent interest, especially for children with seizure disorders, is the fat-intensive ketogenic diet. If you know of a natural epilepsy remedy that you do not see here, feel free to post about it here.

 

 


 

DISCLAIMER: The claims made within this website have not been evaluated by the United States Food and Drug Administration. The products and information offered both on the website and on any packaging labels or advertisements but not limited to within this website, are not approved to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent disease. The information provided within this website is for informational purposes only and is not intended as a substitute for advice from your physician or other health care professional. This also applies to any and all of our packaging to KETO-TO-GO products herein and future products coming soon. You should ALWAYS consult with a licensed health care professional before starting any diet, exercise or supplementation program, before taking any medication, or if you have or suspect you might have a health problem