Thread: Atkins diet helps with Epilepsy

Here's a link to an article about the possible help that a lowcarb diet might give for epilepsy. You may have to sign up to read the article. It's free. http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/465782

I've heard that a higher fat diet can possibly help with epilepsy...........verrrrry interesting.

Barb
Atkins-3/14/03
174/146/135 5'2"
"A little knowledge is a dangerous thing."
Knowledge is POWER

I despise signing up for things.

Could you give us a synopsis? I've got a couple of friends with epilepsy and I'm interested in what it has to say...

Please?

Blessings!
Sharron
Author of "Low Carb Cooking at Sharron's Place," and "Extreme Lo-Carb Cuisine," available where ever books are sold.

www.thelowcarbcook.com

"My purpose is that they may be encouraged in heart." Colossians 2:2

LOL, me too Sharron!!!! I signed up as a med student, LOL.

WEll, lets see..........it was a very short article which didn't reveal a LOT, but they concluded that there needs to be more studies done. They found that in a few subjects their epilepsy incidence was diminished by 20-100%. The 100% one was obviously very significant.

Here's some significant info from the article:
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Both diets mimic starvation, tricking the body into burning fat and producing ketones. "Ketone bodies do something to help reduce epilepsy. Beyond that, we don't know," Dr. Kossoff said here at the 57th annual meeting of the American Epilepsy Society, where he presented a poster on a pilot study of six patients, ages 7 to 52 years.

Two children achieved 100% seizure control, and in an 18-year-old, seizure activity was reduced by 90%. Two middle-aged adults did not improve, and a 12-year-old patient experienced only a 20% reduction in seizure activity. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

(I think they've missed the mark as to why it works, I think it's the increase in fats in the diet.)
So the effects are widely variant. But I am hopeful that they are at least doing some studies on it. It makes sense to me that a higher fat diet would help with Epilepsy, since the brain is largely made up of cholesterol and the myelin sheaths (coatings) surrounding nerves are also made up of cholesterol. If fat is significantly reduced, the body goes haywire in places where it needs fat. It only makes sense that the neural pathways of the brain would short out.



Barb
Atkins-3/14/03
174/146/135 5'2"
"A little knowledge is a dangerous thing."
Knowledge is POWER

[This message was edited by Barb Keith on 12-16-03 at 10:11 PM.]

Barb, that does make a lot of sense.

My one friend eats a "balanced" diet. I don't think she does low fat. She's one of those that is naturally skinny. I do know that she uses margarine and liquid oil, though.

Hmmmmm....

Unfortunately, this appears to be the first study, and as you said, it sounds as if they are on the right track, but slightly deviated. I think your hypothesis sounds more valid than theirs does.

I know that the right type of fats has been crucial to my FM management. When I went off the liquid oils (except olive) my quality of life improved dramatically. The problem is, convincing medical folks (MDs) of this is extremely difficult.

I'm going to do some searching of some naturopathic sources and see if I can find anything more about this...

Hey, is it possible to contact them with your thoughts??? They might totally blow you off, but then again, they might not....???

Blessings!
Sharron
Author of "Low Carb Cooking at Sharron's Place," and "Extreme Lo-Carb Cuisine," available where ever books are sold.

www.thelowcarbcook.com

"My purpose is that they may be encouraged in heart." Colossians 2:2

[This message was edited by Sharron Long on 12-17-03 at 08:55 PM.]

The Ketogenic Diet

That is an article on an epilepsy site.

Here's one about epilepsy and EFAs, but I couldn't get it to open. Maybe you can?

An article from JIMA says it quite succinctly:
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Ketogenic diet - Ketogenic diet is one of the oldest methods of treating childhood epilepsy. In children with refractory seizures who have failed drug therapy and are not candidate for epilepsy surgery, this therapy is as or more effective than the addition of new anti-epileptic drug. For example, it remains a reasonable alternative for children with Lennox-Gastaut syndrome refractory to standard drug therapy. The ketogenic diet consists of a high proportion of fats and small amounts of carbohydrate and protein. The basis of the therapeutic effectiveness of the ketogenic diet is because of the ketosis that develops when the brain is relatively deprived of glucose as an energy source and it must shift to utilisation of ketone bodies as the primary fuel. One-third to one-half of children appear to have an excellent response to the ketogenic diet in terms of a marked or complete cessation of seizures or reduction in seizure activity <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I don't have time to search anymore. They are pretty much saying the same things now...

Blessings!
Sharron
Author of "Low Carb Cooking at Sharron's Place," and "Extreme Lo-Carb Cuisine," available where ever books are sold.

www.thelowcarbcook.com

"My purpose is that they may be encouraged in heart." Colossians 2:2

I doubt they would listen to me, "a lowly med student" Plus, I don't want them to think I REALLY am a med student. Maybe there really is something to the ketosis theory too.

Would your friend be willing to give up at least some of the carbs and start using coconut oil and olive oil? I wonder what effect Flaxseed Oil would have on epileptics. Maybe a Christmas gift of those oils and some recipes would get her on the right path. (sheeeeesh, if I had it to do all over again, there would be so many other things I would have done..........like get into the very frustrating field of research, LOL.)

Barb
Atkins-3/14/03
174/146/135 5'2"
"A little knowledge is a dangerous thing."
Knowledge is POWER

Also, they don't seem to have any kind of contact link, so I don't know how I would e-mail them.

Barb
Atkins-3/14/03
174/146/135 5'2"
"A little knowledge is a dangerous thing."
Knowledge is POWER

Were you able to open that second link I posted? It looked very promising...

If you can tell me a bit about what it says, then I might have enough to be able to talk with my friend about it. Please?

Oh my god... look at this quote from the first site:

"Can my child have any other medications while on the diet? What about antibiotics?

Many children’s medications are compounded in sugary syrups. We teach parents to be vigilant in reading labels of all medications, and to avoid all preparations which contain carbohydrates. Carbohydrates include all substances which end in -ol or -ose. The diet is often very sensitive to even small amounts of these carbohydrates. For example, we have found that suntan lotion, which contains sorbitol as its base (note the ...ol) can be absorbed through the skin and lower the ketone level resulting in seizures. "



Sorbitol in tanning lotion can kick you out of ketosis??????

Jeez...

We all brush our teeth with sorbitol every day. It's what they use to sweeten toothpaste.

I wonder how many other ways there are to ruin ketosis. This might be a useful resource.



This sounds like GREAt advice too. I might try this:

"What does the child do on birthdays? On holidays? For snacks at school?

Parents become quite creative. Birthday cakes can be cheese cake. At Halloween one family allowed the child to trick-or-treat and then purchased the candy from the child who used the money to buy a toy. This can also work well for parties and for school. Children as young as four have been taught to say, "No thank you, I’m on a magic diet". "



That's what I'll tell people at Denny's next time.


**************
"Sometimes I think you have to march right in and demand your rights, even if you don't know what your rights are, or who the person is you're talking to. Then on the way out, slam the door."

"No thank you, I’m on a magic diet". "

LOL, I love this line. Think I'll be using it a few times.

Joyce