Treating epilepsy with diet is not a new idea, but the question is when and why to try it. Many physicians suggest that it be tried with a child who has had no significant response to at least two medications. There are few cases in which it is the first choice for treatment against seizures. With the statistics that show how successful the Ketogenic diet can be, it begs the question as to why it wouldn’t be a first choice in treatment.
Many people have serious side effects to medications and some anti-seizure medications can be downright scary. Take for instance Phenobarbital, there are known cases in which this anti-seizure medication causes Stevens Johnson Syndrome. This syndrome can begin with flu-like symptoms, a painful rash that eventually blisters, and high sensitivity to light. In some cases it has even caused blindness. This syndrome is considered an emergent medical situation in which the patient can potentially be hospitalized for weeks to months.
If a child who is too young to talk is put on a medication that doesn’t agree with them, it is hard for them to communicate that to a parent - much less a physician. For this reason alone, it would make sense to try the Ketogenic diet to begin with. There are a few side effects from the diet such as constipation, high cholesterol, slow growth, kidney stones, and gastrointestinal distress. None of these side effects are anywhere near as serious as medication side effects can be. While constipation is frequent, it can be avoided by increasing fluid intake as well as eating vegetables on the diet that are higher in fiber. The other side effects occur much less frequent and can be addressed with the child’s physician.
History of the Ketogenic Diet
According to a paper written by Liu Lin Thio, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor of Neurology at Washington University School of Medicine, the Ketogenic diet got its origin from people who had observed a reduction in seizures after a person had been fasting. This is most likely because the person fasting had gotten rid of any glucose in their body, and their body had turned to using fat as a source for fuel. Hippocrates (460 BCE - 370 BCE), known as the father of medicine, made this observation over 2,400 years ago and there are also references to it in the bible.
Some people had used a high fat, low carbohydrate diet in the 1900′s in an effort to prevent seizures. This practice slowly declined with the introduction of anti-seizure medications. As doctors today begin to see positive results with the diet, many may begin to use it as a first option in treatment. With the relatively low risk of side effects, information on the diet should at least be given to parents at the diagnosis stage.
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