Modified Atkins diet can cut epileptic seizures...(sia Eric H. Kossoff M.D. an assistant pr...),Health

Date:1/28/2008

sia, Eric H. Kossoff, M.D., an assistant professor of neurology and pediatrics at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, said 30 adults with epilepsy, ages 18 to 53 years, who had tried at least two anticonvulsant drugs without success and had an average of 10 seizures per week, were placed on the modified Atkins diet. All patients were seen for free in the Johns Hopkins General Clinical Research Center.

The regimen restricted them to 15 grams of carbohydrates a day. Thats a few strawberries, some vegetables, or a bit of bread, says Kossoff. The diet offers most of its calories from fat-eggs, meats, oils and heavy cream-with as much protein and no-carb beverages as patients want.

Each day, patients kept diaries of what they ate and how many seizures they had. The researchers evaluated how each patient was doing at one, three and six months after starting the diet.

Results showed that about half the patients had experienced a 50 percent reduction in the frequency of their seizures by the first clinic visit. About a third of the patients halved the frequency of seizures by three months. Side effects linked with the diet, such as a rise in cholesterol or triglycerides, were mild. A third of the patients dropped out by the third month, unable to comply with the restrictions.

Fourteen patients who stuck with the diet until the six-month mark chose to continue, even after the study ended-a testament to how effective the diet worked to treat their epilepsy, Kossoff notes.

Though the modified Atkins diet wont be a good fit for all patients, says Kossoff, it opens up another therapeutic option for adults trying to decide between medication, surgery and electrical stimulation to treat intractable seizures. A second study to examine the diets effects on adults with intractable seizures is under way.

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Contact: Christen Brownlee cbrownlee@jhmi.edu 410-955-7832 Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions Source:Eurekalert

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