Disclaimer: I am not a medical professional and you should always discuss any health concerns with your doctor. This blog draws on my personal experience and research and the information contained should not substitute advice or directions from your doctor.
This is part 2 for my friend :)
The Ketogenic Diet
Normally, your body runs on energy created from glucose. But since we can't store much glucose at a time, we never have more than a 24 hour supply. The ketogenic diet will begin by depriving your child of food for 24 hours, so his body will begin burning stored fat instead of glucose.
The diet consists of high fat and low carbohydrate ( which the body turns into glucose) foods, and forces the body into burning fat, instead of glucose. Around 80% of the calories in your child's diet will come from fat. This mimics starvation in the body, and doctors have no idea why it works (go figure). It has been used to treat Epilepsy since at least 500 B.C., and even has biblical roots, in the form of fasting.
Usually, this diet will need to be tailored over time to fit an individual's needs before results are seen, or not seen. Usually doctors ask a period of up to three months to give the body time to adjust. Only about 1/3 of children do not thrive on the diet; either their seizure frequency does not change, or the diet is not well tolerated. 1/3 become seizure free or close to it, and the other 1/3 see improvement.
Usually children on the ketogenic diet stay on their anti-convulsants, but their dose can be lowered, or even stopped all together if their doctor feels it's an acceptable risk. This especially of benefit to younger children who seem to have stronger side effects of some medications. Parent's report their children being more alert while on the diet, even if their seizures do not improve.
Doctors will usually prescribe the diet for a certain amount of time, then slowly start introducing other foods into the child's diet to see if seizure control can still be achieved.
Like everything else in life, the diet does have some side effects. Some of those side effects include constipation, dehydration, and complications from kidney stones/gall stones. The diet also lack many vitamins that are essential- so supplementation is necessary. Since the diet is so high in fat, high levels of fat can build up in the blood.
Modified Atkins
The Atkins diet, in one study, was found to also produce ketones in the body, the same as the ketogenic diet, but it seems only in children. This may be a better option for some children because it does not restrict calories. The Atkins diet, like the ketogenic diet, is low in carbohydrates and high in fats, but is also high in protein. This also makes it a little more desirable for children.
http://ramblingsofacarnivore.blogspot.com/2010/05/ketogenic-diets-and-treatment-of.html
http://www.epilepsyfoundation.org/aboutepilepsy/treatment/ketogenicdiet/
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1176378/
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