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Atkins diet may reduce seizures in children with epilepsy



 
 
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  #1  
Old December 9th, 2003, 06:33 PM
Diarmid Logan
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default Atkins diet may reduce seizures in children with epilepsy

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releas...-adm120203.php

Contact: Jessica Collins

410-516-4570
Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions

Atkins diet may reduce seizures in children with epilepsy

Along with helping some people shed unwanted pounds, the popular
low-carbohydrate, high-fat Atkins diet may also have a role in
preventing seizures in children with epilepsy, say researchers at the
Johns Hopkins Children's Center.

In a limited study of six patients, including three patients 12 years
old and younger on the Atkins regimen for at least four months, two
children and one young adult were seizure-free and were able to reduce
use of anti-convulsant medications. Findings of the study, scheduled
for presentation today at the American Epilepsy Society Meeting in
Boston, also showed that seizure control could be long-lasting on the
diet, with the three patients continuing to be seizure-free for as
long as 20 months.

The researchers caution that because of the small number of study
subjects, their look at the relationship between the Atkins diet and
seizure control should not lead to its routine use in children with
epilepsy, nor at this point should the Atkins diet be used to replace
the ketogenic diet the rigorous high-fat, low-carbohydrate diet
already proven to reduce or eliminate difficult-to-control seizures in
some patients.

The common elements in both diets are high fat and low carbohydrate
foods that alter the body's glucose chemistry. The ketogenic diet
mimics some of the effects of starvation, in which the body first uses
up glucose and glycogen before burning stored body fat. In the absence
of glucose, the body produces ketones, a chemical byproduct of fat
that can inhibit seizures. Children who remain seizure-free for two
years on the ketogenic diet often can resume normal eating and often
their seizures don't return. The Atkins diet, while slightly less
restrictive than the ketogenic diet, also produces ketones.

"We just don't know yet how effective the Atkins diet is in reducing
seizures or if it comes close to the benefits of the ketogenic diet,
but our report raises new questions about the ideal level of calorie
and protein restriction imposed by the ketogenic diet," said the
study's lead author, Eric Kossoff, M.D., a pediatric neurologist at
the Children's Center.

"By learning more about how the Atkins diet works to control seizures,
we should learn more about which patients may benefit best from either
or both of these diets," he added. "It may be, for example, that some
of those who can't tolerate the restrictiveness of the ketogenic diet
could be helped with Atkins."

In the short term, Kossoff says it's possible the Atkins diet could be
used in selected patients as a "trial run" for individuals considering
the ketogenic diet in the future. "Success on the Atkins diet may be a
good indication of patient compliance and efficacy of the ketogenic
diet," he adds. "Because the Atkins diet is easy to read and versions
of it are available in paperback at bookstores, families can easily
follow this kind of a strict, low-carbohydrate diet on their own for
several weeks to determine if this is something they can adhere to."

Also, because the Atkins diet was originally designed for weight loss,
Kossoff says it is possible patients following the diet to reduce
seizures may lose weight in the process. If that does occur, and a
patient's weight has reached unhealthy levels, the patient should be
instructed to increase calorie intake by eating more fats and
proteins.

In the Hopkins study, patients began with 10 grams of carbohydrates
per day, more than the typical amount provided on the ketogenic diet,
but fewer than used in the induction phase of the Atkins diet (20
grams/day). Carbohydrate intake was gradually increased for some
patients. Five out of the six patients attained ketosis (the state of
producing ketones) within days of starting the Atkins diet and
maintained moderate to large levels of ketosis for periods of six
weeks to 24 months.

Kossoff says that Hopkins researchers will further examine the role
the Atkins diet plays in the management of epilepsy in a larger
clinical study of 20 children with epilepsy, which began in September
2003 and already has enrolled several patients.

Co-authors of the current study were Gregory L. Krauss, Jane R.
McGrogan, and John M. Freeman of the Department of Neurology at the
Johns Hopkins Hospital.


###
On the Web:
http://mcb.asm.org/

Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions' news releases are available on an
EMBARGOED basis on EurekAlert at http://www.eurekalert.org and from
the Office of Communications and Public Affairs' direct e-mail news
release service. To enroll, call 410-955-4288 or send e-mail to
.

On a POST-EMBARGOED basis find them at
http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org
  #2  
Old December 9th, 2003, 06:43 PM
M
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default Atkins diet may reduce seizures in children with epilepsy

Diarmid Logan wrote
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releas...-adm120203.php

Contact: Jessica Collins

410-516-4570
Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions

Atkins diet may reduce seizures in children with epilepsy


Why not in adults? I'd rather be on Atkins than doped out of mind on
Teggies and Frisium OD.

--
Malcolm

  #3  
Old December 9th, 2003, 06:55 PM
Roger Zoul
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default Atkins diet may reduce seizures in children with epilepsy

Damn...talk about reinventing the wheel! You'd think these folks would find
better things to spend research dollars on. They could start by doing a
literature study....

Diarmid Logan wrote:
:: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releas...-adm120203.php
::
:: Contact: Jessica Collins
::
:: 410-516-4570
:: Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions
::
:: Atkins diet may reduce seizures in children with epilepsy
::
:: Along with helping some people shed unwanted pounds, the popular
:: low-carbohydrate, high-fat Atkins diet may also have a role in
:: preventing seizures in children with epilepsy, say researchers at the
:: Johns Hopkins Children's Center.


  #5  
Old December 9th, 2003, 08:51 PM
Jenny
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default Atkins diet may reduce seizures in children with epilepsy

Actually, the ketogenic diet used for epilepsy in small children was much
more extreme than the Atkins diet and required restriction of fluids and
almost no carbs at all for many months. It was never "standard" though used
as a solution of last resort for children with epilesy for whom drug therapy
did not work.

So this is something new . . .

-- Jenny

Cut the carbs to respond to my new email address!
New photo: http://www.geocities.com/jenny_the_bean/jennypics.htm
Weight: 168.5/137
Diabetes Type II diagnosed 8/1998 -
HBa1c 5.2 10/03
Low Carb 9/1998 - 8/2001 and 11/10/02 - Now

http://www.geocities.com/jenny_the_bean
How to calculate your need for protein * How much people really lose each
month * Water Weight Gain & Loss * The "Two Gram Cure" for Hunger Cravings
* Characteristics of Successful Dieters * Indispensible Low Carb Treats *
Should You Count that Low Impact Carb? * Curing Ketobreath * Exercise
Starting from Zero * Do Starch Blockers Work? * NEW! Why the Low Carb Diet
is Great for Diabetes * NEW! Low Carb Strategies for People with Diabetes


"BJ in Texas" wrote in message
. ..
Diarmid Logan wrote:
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releas...-adm120203.php

Contact: Jessica Collins

410-516-4570
Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions

Atkins diet may reduce seizures in children with epilepsy


Talk about wasting money on research.... A Lo Carb diet was
considered standard for Epilepsy patients before the drugs now
commonly used were available.

BJ




  #6  
Old December 10th, 2003, 12:57 AM
Nancy Huffines
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default Atkins diet may reduce seizures in children with epilepsy

After being on Atkins for 3 months, I had seizures around the first week in
November. My right shoulder is broken and I am now on anti-seizure meds.
There was no clinical reason for the seizures and the only finding for cause
may have been dehydration. FTR, I always drink plenty of water but
apparently upon just waking up after a nights sleep and not having food in
my system for many hours, my system just quit on me. I am diabetic and found
my sugar was much lower, maybe too low with the meds I was taking which have
also been adjusted. I am not low carbing now but also have not gone "hog
wild" and use about 100-150 grams carb per day. Feeling good and maintaining
my 58 pound weight loss

Nancy J

"Diarmid Logan"

Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions

Atkins diet may reduce seizures in children with epilepsy

Along with helping some people shed unwanted pounds, the popular
low-carbohydrate, high-fat Atkins diet may also have a role in
preventing seizures in children with epilepsy, say researchers at the
Johns Hopkins Children's Center.

In a limited study of six patients, including three patients 12 years
old and younger on the Atkins regimen for at least four months, two
children and one young adult were seizure-free and were able to reduce
use of anti-convulsant medications. Findings of the study, scheduled
for presentation today at the American Epilepsy Society Meeting in
Boston, also showed that seizure control could be long-lasting on the
diet, with the three patients continuing to be seizure-free for as
long as 20 months.

The researchers caution that because of the small number of study
subjects, their look at the relationship between the Atkins diet and
seizure control should not lead to its routine use in children with
epilepsy, nor at this point should the Atkins diet be used to replace
the ketogenic diet the rigorous high-fat, low-carbohydrate diet
already proven to reduce or eliminate difficult-to-control seizures in
some patients.

The common elements in both diets are high fat and low carbohydrate
foods that alter the body's glucose chemistry. The ketogenic diet
mimics some of the effects of starvation, in which the body first uses
up glucose and glycogen before burning stored body fat. In the absence
of glucose, the body produces ketones, a chemical byproduct of fat
that can inhibit seizures. Children who remain seizure-free for two
years on the ketogenic diet often can resume normal eating and often
their seizures don't return. The Atkins diet, while slightly less
restrictive than the ketogenic diet, also produces ketones.

"We just don't know yet how effective the Atkins diet is in reducing
seizures or if it comes close to the benefits of the ketogenic diet,
but our report raises new questions about the ideal level of calorie
and protein restriction imposed by the ketogenic diet," said the
study's lead author, Eric Kossoff, M.D., a pediatric neurologist at
the Children's Center.

"By learning more about how the Atkins diet works to control seizures,
we should learn more about which patients may benefit best from either
or both of these diets," he added. "It may be, for example, that some
of those who can't tolerate the restrictiveness of the ketogenic diet
could be helped with Atkins."

In the short term, Kossoff says it's possible the Atkins diet could be
used in selected patients as a "trial run" for individuals considering
the ketogenic diet in the future. "Success on the Atkins diet may be a
good indication of patient compliance and efficacy of the ketogenic
diet," he adds. "Because the Atkins diet is easy to read and versions
of it are available in paperback at bookstores, families can easily
follow this kind of a strict, low-carbohydrate diet on their own for
several weeks to determine if this is something they can adhere to."

Also, because the Atkins diet was originally designed for weight loss,
Kossoff says it is possible patients following the diet to reduce
seizures may lose weight in the process. If that does occur, and a
patient's weight has reached unhealthy levels, the patient should be
instructed to increase calorie intake by eating more fats and
proteins.

In the Hopkins study, patients began with 10 grams of carbohydrates
per day, more than the typical amount provided on the ketogenic diet,
but fewer than used in the induction phase of the Atkins diet (20
grams/day). Carbohydrate intake was gradually increased for some
patients. Five out of the six patients attained ketosis (the state of
producing ketones) within days of starting the Atkins diet and
maintained moderate to large levels of ketosis for periods of six
weeks to 24 months.

Kossoff says that Hopkins researchers will further examine the role
the Atkins diet plays in the management of epilepsy in a larger
clinical study of 20 children with epilepsy, which began in September
2003 and already has enrolled several patients.

Co-authors of the current study were Gregory L. Krauss, Jane R.
McGrogan, and John M. Freeman of the Department of Neurology at the
Johns Hopkins Hospital.


###
On the Web: http://mcb.asm.org/

Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions' news releases are available on an
EMBARGOED basis on EurekAlert at http://www.eurekalert.org and from
the Office of Communications and Public Affairs' direct e-mail news
release service. To enroll, call 410-955-4288 or send e-mail to
.

On a POST-EMBARGOED basis find them at
http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org



  #7  
Old December 10th, 2003, 01:40 AM
Jean B.
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default Atkins diet may reduce seizures in children with epilepsy

Roger Zoul wrote:

Damn...talk about reinventing the wheel! You'd think these folks would find
better things to spend research dollars on. They could start by doing a
literature study....


And I have been hearing this for years, no decades. Of course,
they didn't call it the Atkins Diet but rather a low-fat diet.

--
Jean B.
  #8  
Old December 10th, 2003, 02:45 AM
Lee B.
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default Atkins diet may reduce seizures in children with epilepsy

Yeah, but ketogenic diets for kids with epilepsy has generally been
considered on the "fringe" (kinda like low carb diets for weight
lossG). Now that low carb is getting mainstream recognition, it's
probably a good time for JHH to get this information back out to the
public as well as the medical community in hopes that people will look
at it with less skepticism. At least if they have a new study out there,
it will turn up in new literature searches.

Lee - an RN who actually learned about ketogenic diets in school!

PS - if anyone hasn't seen it and can find a copy, watch the movie
"First Do No Harm".
http://epilepsyontario.org/client/EO/EOWeb.nsf/web/First+Do+No+Harm+(Movie)

Roger Zoul wrote:

Damn...talk about reinventing the wheel! You'd think these folks would find
better things to spend research dollars on. They could start by doing a
literature study....

  #9  
Old December 10th, 2003, 03:51 PM
Roger Zoul
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default Atkins diet may reduce seizures in children with epilepsy

Lee B. wrote:
:: Yeah, but ketogenic diets for kids with epilepsy has generally been
:: considered on the "fringe" (kinda like low carb diets for weight
:: lossG).

Right....now only were they giving bad advice on weight control, they were
also making it harder to sick kids to get proper treatment, all because it
was too hard to believe that removing carbs could have benefit. So, in
addition to not doing further research on LC eating, they failed to do
further research on ketogentic diets (which is what Atkins is, BTW) for
epileptic kids.

:: Now that low carb is getting mainstream recognition, it's
:: probably a good time for JHH to get this information back out to the
:: public as well as the medical community in hopes that people will
:: look
:: at it with less skepticism. At least if they have a new study out
:: there,
:: it will turn up in new literature searches.
::

Well, I guess I agree with you. Better late than never.

:: Lee - an RN who actually learned about ketogenic diets in school!
::
:: PS - if anyone hasn't seen it and can find a copy, watch the movie
:: "First Do No Harm".
::
http://epilepsyontario.org/client/EO/EOWeb.nsf/web/First+Do+No+Harm+(Movie)
::
:: Roger Zoul wrote:
:::
::: Damn...talk about reinventing the wheel! You'd think these folks
::: would find better things to spend research dollars on. They could
::: start by doing a literature study....


  #10  
Old December 10th, 2003, 04:34 PM
tcomeau
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default Atkins diet may reduce seizures in children with epilepsy

"Nancy Huffines" wrote in message om...
After being on Atkins for 3 months, I had seizures around the first week in
November. My right shoulder is broken and I am now on anti-seizure meds.
There was no clinical reason for the seizures and the only finding for cause
may have been dehydration. FTR, I always drink plenty of water but
apparently upon just waking up after a nights sleep and not having food in
my system for many hours, my system just quit on me. I am diabetic and found
my sugar was much lower, maybe too low with the meds I was taking which have
also been adjusted. I am not low carbing now but also have not gone "hog
wild" and use about 100-150 grams carb per day. Feeling good and maintaining
my 58 pound weight loss

Nancy J


What exactly were you eating that you thought you were on the Atkins
diet? Can you give us an idea of what you were eating on a typical
day?

Are you suggesting that the Atkins diet brought on these seizures. How
did your shoulder get broken?

What do you mean your "system just quit on you"?

You are diabetic and you chose to go low-carb. You then went with the
lowest carb diet without considering less restrictive low-carb diets
such as the Zone. Is that correct?

I am completely in support of the low-carb way of life. Having said
that, if I were diabetic and trying a new and controversial way of
eating to lose weight and regain control of by diabetes, I would go
slow and methodically research the various low-carb options. I would
make less extreme changes to my diet, monitoring the results
carefully. I would do it with the supervision and help of a
progressive and supportive doctor. And I wouldn't aim to lose 50 or 60
lbs in only three months.

Read:

Dr. Bernstein's Diabetes Solution
by Richard K. Bernstein (Author

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...31267?v=glance

You are on the right track, just do it slow and easy. You will get
there without having to take extreme measures. Also read The Zone by
Barry Sears, his diet is easier to adhere to and less carb restrictive
than Atkins.

TC
 




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