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Keto for epilepsy

jpscloud

Well-Known Member
Messages
1,048
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Radio 4 yesterday afternoon featured a piece on using a ketogenic diet to reduce seizures and absences in children.

The diet proved very successful in the case featured and the Dr speaking said the diet is entirely safe.

Great to hear keto described as safe on mainstream media! I was hoping to hear them mention keto for diabetes as well, but sadly not this time.
 
What I found completely incomprehensible was that they advised using drugs at first and if they proved ineffective then try diet!
Then admitting that the diet has 60-70% success rate in "complex cases" (where more than 3 drugs are being used) and even going on to say that after 2 years the diet may have "given the brain enough of a break" so that the seizures don't come back if the diet is stopped in these complex cases (she was very careful not to say it was a cure although it sounds like one to me!).
Lots of "ooo its difficult to follow" bits but overall I guess positive in the usual NHS slightly negative way.

This is the info page from the program website for those who are interested
https://www.gosh.nhs.uk/health-professionals/clinical-guidelines/ketogenic-diet
 
Thanks bulkbiker, agree with your comments.
 
We bumped into a family in a local café recently who had adopted Keto to treat their little boy with epilepsy. We struck up a conversation, when they realised we were also requesting breakfasts"without the carbs". Apparently it was working wonders to manage his condition and the little boy was chuffed to discover some low carb buddies too.
 
My daughter, 43yo, suffers from epilepsy and is on keto (+ one medication) with no seizures since starting keto.

I and my daughter started keto after our daughter in law had been diagnosed with cancer and started keto + chemo and has now reached 5years with out re-occurrence.

I can (mostly) keep my blood sugar in the 'normal' range after being diagnosed at 15mmol/L (270 mg dL)

Maybe there is a possibility that keto is helping.
 
Yes, other previous studies have found a significant reduction in seizures with ketogenic diets. It begs the question, have some of these patients been misdiagnosed as some diabetics particularly those with a brittle diabetes profiles have rapid swings between acute hypoglycemia and hyperglycemia which could perhaps be exasperated by diets high in carbohydrates and sugars. Certainly a low carb diet in diabetes is gaining recognition largely due to the positve results in diabetic patients. In addition because the clinical manifestation of acute hypoglycemia and its commonality with epilepsy, schizophrenia,anxiety states, as presenting symptoms should such diseases be screened using The Gold Standard OGTT for diabetes. This test would reveal rapid and extreme blood glucose fluctuations as a possible etiology. In particular the extended OGTT. And since diabetes may be better controlled and have better outcomes for patients, than what is currently attainable, for patients diagnosed with schizophrenia, epilepsy, mental heath conditions, it would pose an economic test to include.
 
Nothing new under the sun: ketogenic diets have been used since {AFAIK) the early1900s to successfully treat epilepsy in children, and starvaton/keto/low carb diets have been known and used since the late 1700s for treating diabetes pre insulin..
 

Couldn't agree more, I've been through this experience.
The amount of symptoms that fluctuations in high and low blood glucose levels is really alarming and preventing the roller coaster ride of blood glucose levels is the only 'treatment' that works! Keto is that treatment, I have personally been in ketosis for nearly five years now and only had a hypo after my last eOGTT!
These reactive hypoglycaemia symptoms are the reason why brain function and atypical diabetes symptoms are prevalent in most types of endocrine conditions!
 
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