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Atkins Diet May Reduce Seizures In Children With Epilepsy...
Source: 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. Related News Stories Ketogenic Diet Reduces Seizures In Many Children, Hopkins Researchers Find (October 1, 2001) -- Johns Hopkins neurologists report that a rigorously high-fat, low-carbohydrate diet not only reduces the number of seizures in children with severe seizure disorders, but also keeps the frequency of ... full story Controversial Atkins Diet May Be Beneficial For People With Epilepsy (February 1, 2005) -- Imagine that your child with epilepsy could have seizures less frequently, by eating more protein and less carbs. The first comprehensive review of possible dietary treatments of epilepsy has .... full story Very Low-carbohydrate Diets Work For Men And Upper Body Fat (November 15, 2004) -- Scientists say that low carbohydrate diets, like the Atkins and South Beach Diets, may actually be the best option for men who want to slim. New research, published this week in the Open Access ... full story Atkins Diet Shows Surprising Results, Researcher Says; One-year Study Shows Diet May Be As Effective And Safe As Conventional Diets (May 22, 2003) -- A 3-center study led by researchers at the Weight and Eating Disorders Program of the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine reports the results of the first controlled trial of the Atkins ... full story 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. ### |
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Bubba Do Wah Ditty wrote:
Source: Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions Atkins Diet May Reduce Seizures In Children With Epilepsy Good, someone final did the study. Folks have been asking for such a study since at least 1999 when I started Atkins. Related News Stories Ketogenic Diet Reduces Seizures In Many Children, Hopkins Researchers Find (October 1, 2001) -- Johns Hopkins neurologists report that a rigorously high-fat, low-carbohydrate diet not only reduces the number of seizures in children with severe seizure disorders, but also keeps the frequency of ... full story A diet that's almost meat-only has been used for many years as a treatment for epilepsy. Since such an extreme works, why not try the less extreme but still ketogenic Atkins plan in a study? Bingo, Johns Hopkins doctors do it. 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. A pilot study is a good start. 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." I can't say that drug companies should like this, but "curing" an illness with diet alone sure beats taking a medicine or going through a doctor's treatment plan. Also, because the Atkins diet was originally designed for weight loss, There are two stories on that and I think they are both true. One is that Doctor Atkins tried it on himself and since he lost weight it was designed for weight loss. The other is that Doctor Atkins noticed that low fat diets tended to make his heart patients worse in the long run, so he searched for a method to make their blood tests better in the long run. He found low carbing does that so he started prescribing low carb. Then he noticed his low carbing patients lost weight. 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. Following Atkins isn't reduced calorie (under eating is against the rule just like over eating is against the rules). Since the loss rate falls as the amount left to lose falls, this almost never happens. It's far more common for folks to stop losing with 10 to go than for folks to go below their goal. Doesn't look like the doctors doing the study knew of this trend. 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. Most excelletn, a study that doesn't just use Induction. I am thrilled to see this. Interesting that they kept some at or below Indcution and others they put on what Atkins actually is in its entirety. 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. Yea-haw! Thanx for the quote. |
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