Modified Atkins Diet for Epilepsy-Research

[Zoe]

This link is to an article on the Modified Atkins diet for epilepsy:

The Atkins Diet: A Promising Treatment for Intractable Epilepsy ...Nov 1, 2007 ... Until recently, the popular low-carbohydrate, high-fat Atkins diet was considered by the healthcare profession to be no more than a diet fad ...
http://www.epilepsy.com/articles/ar_1103831971


I believe Johns Hopkins is recruiting for a study to be administered by internet of this diet for adults with intractable seizures.

The results in the studies so far are comparable to those of the ketogenic diet which is usually only given to children.
The Atkins diet here is much easier to use than the ketogenic and is working as well with adults as with children. More hope on the horizon for overcoming seizure disorders!

[angel]

nice articale , Zoe

I've just started the atkins diet again yesterday.... I'm really not sure if it has helped my seizures. I can say though you can lose a lot of weight if you eat right and stick to the diet.... when I first went on it I went from 162 pounds to 145.. I did have less seizures. but im not sure if it was from the diet or just good months

no sugar, no real butter, no bread white flour anything like that.....

[Zoe]

Hi Lorrie,
I hope you do well on the diet this time, better than before. The links in the article will take you to some good support groups, with recipes and other diet information too.

[Dutch mom]

http://highwire.stanford.edu/cgi/med...urcetype=HWCIT

A pilot trial with modified Atkins' diet in adult patients with refractory epilepsy.

E Carrette, K Vonck, V de Herdt, I Dewaele, R Raedt, L Goossens, M Van Zandijcke, W Wadman, V Thadani, and P Boon
Clin Neurol Neurosurg, September 1, 2008; 110 (p : 797-803.)

Reference Center for Refractory Epilepsy, Department of Neurology, Ghent University Hospital, 1K12IA, 185 De Pintelaan, B-9000 Gent, Belgium.

OBJECTIVES:
At Ghent University Hospital, the feasibility and efficacy of the modified Atkins' diet was evaluated in adult patients with refractory epilepsy. The Atkins' diet restricts carbohydrate intake and was originally designed for weight loss.

PATIENTS AND METHODS:
During a 6-month trial period, a carbohydrate restriction of 20 g/day was in place. During a 36 h hospital admission, patients were instructed about the diet. Patients underwent clinical neurological testing, EEG, ECG, blood and urine analyses and mood evaluation before and during the trial. Seizure frequency and side effects were recorded in seizure diaries and followed up at monthly clinic visits.

RESULTS:
Eight patients were included in the study. Three out of eight patients followed the diet for 6 months. One out of three patients showed a >50% seizure reduction, 1/3>30%, and 1/3<30%. Side effects such as constipation and diarrhoea were mild and occurred mainly during the initial week of the diet. Patients reported improved concentration and well being. This was confirmed by improved scores on the Beck Depression Inventory Scale.

CONCLUSION:
This pilot study shows that the modified Atkins' diet is feasible in an adult population, and that seizure frequency reduction is possible. The results need to be confirmed in larger prospective, controlled studies with comparison groups.

[Zoe]

Thanks for this link! Do you know of any other studies going on now or in the recent past? There is one for adults with intractable seizures at Johns Hopkins and I'm looking to see if they are still taking new participants.
Is your son still doing well on the ketogenic diet? Will he be able to get off that diet eventually?

[Dutch mom]

Hi Zoë,

Check these out http://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/re...=&lup_s=&lup_e=
especially this one
http://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/sh...+atkins&rank=5
and
http://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/sh...+atkins&rank=4

I guess you know http://www.atkinsforseizures.com/ ?

My son is doing well (again now) on the ketogenic diet and isn't on any anti-epileptic drugs for over 4 years now. Coming July he wil be on the diet for 5 years. Last year we've had a difficult period, he lost adequate ketosis and we had to finetune the diet again and again for many months to stabilize him. As soon as ketosis is too low (< 3.5) we see many breakthrough seizures, absence szs, tonics, tonic-clonics and complex partials, all day and night. We've been so afraid this would be the end of his ketogenic succes. He didn't tolerate lowering the diet's ratio, so it seems we won't be able to wean of the diet. As long as ketosis is 3.5-4+ he's doing fine and is as good as seizure free.
I would so much like to quit this strange, seemingly so unhealthy diet and feed him all those things kids like, he has forgotten how bread, potatoes, fries and candy taste like and he gets only a very small amount of fruits . I'm afraid the Lennox Gastaut syndrome just is too bad on him, the diet doesn't cure the cause of his epilepsy, his braindamage is and will stay a fact. We'll see how long it lasts and do live by each day the diet still works for him. The future is too unpredictable to worry about.

This is interesting: kids with E do prefer fat snacks over sweet snacks (full of carbs.) This was the same for my boy before he started on the diet. In the very first week on the diet, eating fats and allmost no carbs, his szs reduced from 80-100 a day to 0.

Try it, they might like it!

In this month’s issue of Ketogenic Diet News, we asked Dr. Adrianna Amari from the Kennedy Krieger Institute in Baltimore to report on her study which was published in the August 2007 issue of Epilepsy & Behavior. For many years, parents have asked me in their initial consultation, “Should my child go on the ketogenic diet? They LOVE bacon and eggs!” For years, I would then tell them, “They will probably love the food on the diet, and that’s good for sticking with it for a long time, but it has nothing to do with their epilepsy.” Dr. Amari has just proven that I am wrong! Her landmark study, which raises just as many questions than it answers, suggests that children’s brains are possibly telling their stomachs what to eat, and the ketogenic diet appears to be on the menu. Stay tuned for more studies to examine this exciting finding. | Eric Kossoff MD

The Ketogenic Diet – Kids With Epilepsy Appear to Prefer It
By Adrianna Amari, PhD

Although the ketogenic diet has been found to be highly effective for the treatment of epilepsy, it is not always considered as a treatment option by pediatricians, neurologists, or families themselves. One of the reasons for this is the perception that children will find the high-fat/low-carbohydrate regimen unpalatable. Consequently, it is anticipated that it will be difficult to get them to comply with the diet, particularly eating the high fat items and being restricted from typical treat foods like candy or chips.

Until recently, this perception of unpalatability had not been assessed systematically. In the August 2007 issue of Epilepsy & Behavior, we report on a study our group conducted to assess the food preferences of children with seizures. Specifically, we assessed children’s preferences for high fat foods compatible with, and high carbohydrate foods incompatible with the ketogenic diet. We wanted specifically to study children who were not on the ketogenic diet to see what their preferences were.
Fifty-nine children between the ages of 2 and 17 years, 29 with seizure disorders and 30 without, participated in a food choice assessment, in which they were asked to choose which item they preferred from pairs of food items. Small tastes of foods were randomly presented in pairs from out of a selection of 7 high fat and 7 high carbohydrate foods, such that each food item was eventually paired with every other food item during the procedure. This method resulted in a rank order of preferences, and also enabled us to calculate preference scores for both the high fat and high carbohydrate food groups.

We were not surprised to find that children without seizure disorders preferred such typical treat items as candy corn and tortilla chips, but were quite surprised to find that children with seizure disorders actually preferred such atypical items as mayonnaise and cream cheese! Overall, children with seizure disorders had significantly higher preferences for high fat versus high carbohydrate items, while children without seizure disorders had the opposite preferences.

Preferences and Perceptions

Parents were also surprised by these preferences. During this study, we had additionally assessed parents’ predictions of child food preferences, and found that parents’ perceptions of what their children may or may not prefer were often inaccurate.

Most parents did not think their children would prefer the high fat foods, and they were incorrect. Awareness of this may lead some caregivers to be more open to initiation of the ketogenic diet as a therapeutic option. In fact, several of the children in this study were subsequently started on the diet after now-convinced parents saw their children eating the high fat foods, much to their surprise.

Our group is planning a prospective study to track whether detection of these unusual preferences by systematic assessment can predict not only compliance with the diet, but perhaps even diet efficacy. Future research could also focus on understanding why these preferences exist.

Edited by Steven C. Schachter, MD
Submitted: August 7, 2007

Bron: http://www.epilepsy.com/epilepsy/keto_news_september07

[Zoe]

Hi Dutch Mom,
Thanks for all the information [and the umlaut!] I'm writing an article on one of the trials of the Modified Atkins diet and it will be good to have other studies to include as well.
Gluten sensitivity as a cause of seizures is still not well recognized. Was your son also tested for this? Is gluten sensitivity well recognized in Holland?
I'm sorry to hear your son is still having so much difficulty. It's very interesting what you say about your son, and other children prefering the fat, and what Dr. Kossoff is saying about it too. He is leading the current research on the Atkins diet with adults who have drug resistant seizures. Thanks again for the information!

p.s. My grandfather was from Amsterdam.