Welcome to the redesigned epilepsy.com
It is now easier and faster than ever to access news, articles and community content. With less clutter and an improved navigation system, your favorite content is now only a click away.
The new features include:
Take control of your epilepsy and seizures. Seizure management has never been easier.
TAKE CONTROL TODAYJohns Hopkins neurologists report that a rigorously high-fat, low-carbohydrate diet not only reduces the number of seizures in children with severe seizure disorders, but also keeps the frequency of attacks lower years after the diet is stopped.
A paper published in October's Pediatrics by Hopkins pediatric neurologist John Freeman, M.D., and his colleagues shows more than half of the children in a study of the so-called ketogenic diet continued to experience at least a 50 percent reduction in seizures three to six years after going back on a normal diet.
"Also notable," Freeman says, "is that many of the children who had success after ending the diet were free of both anticonvulsant drugs and seizures."
Freeman, along with Cheryl Hemingway, Diana Pillas and Paula Pyzik, say the ketogenic diet is "an excellent alternative" for children whose seizures cannot be easily controlled. "What we're seeing is long-lasting effect for many children who used the diet," Freeman adds.
Freeman noted that those in the study represent seizure-prone children who do not respond to at least two different anticonvulsant drugs. In addition, children in the study had an average minimum of two seizures per week and were between the ages of 1 and 16 years. Children were not excluded from the study on the basis of what kinds of seizures they had.
Of the study's 150 children started on the ketogenic diet, 83 remained on the diet for at least one year. Three years after the last child was enrolled in the study, questionnaires were sent to all participating families; 107 questionnaires were completed. Families of 35 children were interviewed by phone. Parents were asked about the current frequency of seizures as well as if, when and why they removed their child from the diet.
One-third of the original 150 children were either seizure free or had greater than a 90 percent reduction in seizures, and 44 percent of those were entirely free from medication.
Freeman says that while the reason the ketogenic diet works continues to puzzle neurologists and nutritionists, a "flurry of activity" is now under way to reveal the biochemical reasons for the treatment's success. Many experts believe the suppression of seizures is related to the build-up and breakdown of ketones, natural metabolites that accumulate in cells programmed to conserve energy.
The study was funded by grants from the Charlie Foundation to Cure Pediatric Epilepsy, by Jim and Nancy Abrahams, and by the Roxanne Fund.
Article citation: "The Ketogenic Diet: A 3- to 6-Year Follow-up of 150 Children Enrolled Prospectively" Pediatrics Vol. 108, No. 4; October 2001
Media Contact: David Bricker
Phone: 410-223-1728
E-mail: dbricker@jhmi.edu
| Title | Posted | |
|---|---|---|
| Epileptic Seizure Monitor Alarm System | Feb 8, 2012 | |
| onemarvy | ||
| Are these normal migraine symptoms or is there something more to it? | Feb 8, 2012 | |
| xtheotherside | ||
| 5 year old worsening seizures. Pls help??? | Feb 8, 2012 | |
| TIM_C28 | ||
| Trileptal dosage | Feb 8, 2012 | |
| myejk | ||
| SEN and epilepsy | Feb 8, 2012 | |
| Kim Norris | ||
| possible non convulsive epilepticus? | Feb 7, 2012 | |
| rayraykay | ||
| Fight with the sidewalk | Feb 7, 2012 | |
| jasssmit | ||
| Focal activity followed by generalized activity but no epilepsy | Feb 7, 2012 | |
| BendyPianist | ||
| Self-Management of Medication | Feb 7, 2012 | |
| columbia.epilepsy.study | ||
| Feeling Like a Human Guinea Pig | Feb 7, 2012 | |
| christopherpaul | ||
| View all Forums | ||
| Title | Page Views | |
|---|---|---|
| my.epilepsy.com Updates | 20,610 | |
| epi_help | ||
| topamax and weight loss | 19,311 | |
| alexia mom | ||
| kepra | 19,197 | |
| brian mattingly | ||
| Possible cure for absence seizures | 16,342 | |
| pdl1 | ||
| How exactly do aura's feel | 13,990 | |
| WendyBendy | ||
| Sexual Side Effects | 13,513 | |
| George R | ||
| MEDICAL ALERT I.D.'s | 12,427 | |
| picnupthepcs | ||
| Over 40 Different Types Of Seizures - Revised | 10,405 | |
| spiz | ||
| electrical shock in head? | 10,072 | |
| Maggie | ||
| Weight Gain and Depakote | 9,005 | |
| galinda | ||
| View all Forums | ||
| Title | Posted | |
|---|---|---|
| Epilepsy Pipeline Update Conference | Feb 8, 2012 | |
| bryan_farley | ||
| my partial complex seizures | Feb 8, 2012 | |
| Zanna1211 | ||
| The Sunday Dreads | Feb 8, 2012 | |
| johnverling | ||
| Giant Stuffed Animals For The Toddlers | Feb 8, 2012 | |
| zacharysmith | ||
| Frederick's of Hollywood Announces the "Hollywood Love Story Contest" Valentine's Day | Feb 7, 2012 | |
| cn-lightings | ||
| Seizures and medical marijuana | Feb 7, 2012 | |
| seizureprone134 | ||
| From muscle problems to seizures in 6 weeks or less | Feb 7, 2012 | |
| ArizonaAbby | ||
| Speech at Epilepsy Pipeline Update Conference -2012 | Feb 7, 2012 | |
| dayna | ||
| The Doors. | Feb 7, 2012 | |
| BowlofMush | ||
| marijuana | Feb 7, 2012 | |
| ccraven | ||
| View all Blogs | ||
| Title | Page Views | |
|---|---|---|
| my partial complex seizures | 4,402 | |
| Zanna1211 | ||
| Topomax... The Dreaded......... | 3,780 | |
| Dr Jason | ||
| Brain Zaps, tics & twitches | 3,579 | |
| JudiS | ||
| How can you tell if a sleep seizure happens? | 3,537 | |
| epl_controller | ||
| Feeling Sick | 3,308 | |
| JBJ1984 | ||
| side effects of phenobarb. | 3,211 | |
| pksmom | ||
| Tegretol XR and ANXIETY meds | 2,903 | |
| Butterflygrl | ||
| TYLENOL, AEDs & SEIZURES | 2,831 | |
| cmscribbles | ||
| Nonepileptic "Events" vs. "Seizures" | 2,710 | |
| teft | ||
| newborn seizure | 2,254 | |
| Sunny_80 | ||
| View all Blogs | ||
| Title | Posted | |
|---|---|---|
| Had the worse seizure of my life last night! Complex Partial | Feb 8, 2012 | |
| jlamont | ||
| Self-Management of Medication | Feb 7, 2012 | |
| columbia.epilepsy.study | ||
| Dravet Spectrum Disorder | Feb 4, 2012 | |
| mytboy | ||
| Diving with eplilepsy | Feb 1, 2012 | |
| p59 | ||
| Moms of epileptic toddlers | Jan 24, 2012 | |
| Xaviersmom2 | ||
| Autism | Jan 15, 2012 | |
| Aaron Chan | ||
| brain surgery | Dec 26, 2011 | |
| jen020309 | ||
| People in their 20's with epilepsy | Dec 7, 2011 | |
| Mandy911 | ||
| TEAM ETP | Nov 28, 2011 | |
| krisj | ||
| 24yr old male | Sep 21, 2011 | |
| Dave24 | ||
| View all Groups | ||
| Title | Posted | |
|---|---|---|
| My Story - Still Don't Know What it Means | Feb 8, 2012 | |
| arobertshaw85 | ||
| Help me plz. I can't go on like this | Feb 6, 2012 | |
| Lindsea | ||
| For my daughter | Feb 6, 2012 | |
| britni1780 | ||
| Why can't I find out what is going on with me? | Feb 5, 2012 | |
| dgreer27 | ||
| nightime seizure | Feb 5, 2012 | |
| ishaq | ||
| my grandchild with possible panayiotopolous syndrome | Feb 5, 2012 | |
| krys | ||
| Please Read and Help | Feb 4, 2012 | |
| WALLIGAT0R | ||
| Hello. I'm new to the forum | Feb 3, 2012 | |
| Tom S. | ||
| Maxx | Feb 3, 2012 | |
| MDS2006 | ||
| Lyme Disease as a cause for seizures | Feb 1, 2012 | |
| ssidah | ||
| View all Stories | ||
| Title | Page Views | |
|---|---|---|
| Jessica Roiz | 2,412 | |
| kroiz | ||
| my story | 553 | |
| snoby | ||
| Temporal Lobe Epilepsy | 536 | |
| Always Have On Clean Underwear | 499 | |
| crashllama | ||
| my brain has died a thousand deaths........... | 470 | |
| banffgirl | ||
| Kelly's Life With Epilepsy | 467 | |
| kjcanada1979 | ||
| What My Seizures Are Like...... | 418 | |
| javaman | ||
| Nocturnal grand mal seizures (primary generalized epilepsy) | 389 | |
| karalyeva | ||
| Life......... | 371 | |
| dizzygal | ||
| My Daily Philosophy..... | 364 | |
| KatieFerguson88 | ||
| View all Stories | ||
