Was one of the treatments for childhood epilepsy suppressed

by the pharmaceutical companies or just forgotten? I recently saw a movie where a mother rediscovered the ketogenic diet for her son who was having constant seizures and being prescribed one drug after another and it was having no effect, doctors were actually talking about surgery and maybe placing him in an institution.

She discovered this treatment and had to fight to get him treated but the ketogenic diet worked for him and apparently works for two out of three children who suffer from epilepsy.

The diet was discovered over 80 years ago and apparently worked for many but drs quit using it as soon as meds were discovered that worked, but many had side effects. Most patients are not even told about the diet and are just prescribed meds.

It would only stand to reason to try something that has few side effects and actually often cures epilepsy in children in two out of three cases but yet this treatment was basically ignored by most doctors, why?

www.epilepsyfoundation.org...

The ketogenic diet, which is very high in fats and low in carbohydrates, was first developed almost 80 years ago. It makes the body burn fat for energy instead of glucose. When carefully monitored by a medical team familiar with its use, the diet helps two out of three children who are tried on it and may prevent seizures completely in one out of three. It is a strict diet, and takes a strong commitment from the whole family. The ketogenic diet is not a do-it-yourself diet. It is a serious form of treatment that, like other therapies for epilepsy, has some side effects that have to be watched for. More research is being done to learn about the underlying reasons for the diet's positive effect.

[edit on 27-3-2007 by goose]

I don't think it's "suppressed" at all, as far as I know it's not an uncommon thing to try if the child isn't responding to standard seizure meds. Sometimes they combine the two.

Which is why if you google for "ketogenic diet epilepsy" you get 150K hits, and most of the top ones are from legit medical sources.

There are health issues with being on a ketogenic diet for long periods, it doesn't supply enough fiber, it's short on nutrients, and it's hard for kids to stay on for years.

Edit: Also "cure" is a mis-statement. It doesn't "cure" epilepsy any more than Topamax does.

[edit on 27-3-2007 by Tom Bedlam]

Well im not sure if this could be a possible reason but new studies suggest that some thought to have epilepsy have not,



My sister, Has since the age of 12 suffered Grand-mal fits, Sometimes up to 20 a day,

She was put on adult meds to no avail, We where told that she would need split brain surgery ...but then they found out that it would not be possible for her, So they updosed her medications to the max, and still she would have Grand-mal fits,

She was transferred to a specialist who decided to look in to her case as it seemed odd that she was not responding hardly to anything, the fear was that she would not make it more than another 3 years if she kept on this way, she had already lost alot of weight and her skin was very weak as a result of her medications,

So to cut a long story short.. There thinking that she may actually have something else! Some kind of rare heart defect that intern causes the same effects as epilepsy, I know there are many many cases of epilepsy that are now being reviewed for this, This may be a reason that certain things have stopped.

Related links,


Link1

Yes, now when you google ketogenic diet you get all kinds of hits but the key word here is now. Until this mother rediscovered this diet and they made a movie about it, very few people except for medical personnel had ever heard of the ketogenic diet. It was still being used at John Hopkins but apparently no wheres else. My point is, the diet works for 2 out of three children but shortly after new meds came available drs. stopped prescribing the diet.

Asala how is your sister and what if anything worked? When drs. were treating your sister was there any mention of the diet?

Originally posted by goose
Yes, now when you google ketogenic diet you get all kinds of hits but the key word here is now. Until this mother rediscovered this diet and they made a movie about it, very few people except for medical personnel had ever heard of the ketogenic diet.

Um, are you talking about "First Do No Harm", released in 1997? I found 137 published scholarly studies not at Johns Hopkins prior to the movie's release on my first search.

As far as that goes, are you aware of vagal nerve stimulation? I know an epileptic guy that is intractable on meds but hasn't had a seizure in the last year since they put the stimulator in.

No, it's not suppressed. It's just incredibly hard to stick to and is pretty intesive on the body.

It's not like doing the "South Beach Diet" in that you just figure out what to eat and do it. It actually requires having a medical approval and a diet expert/doctor. It also requires many hours per week in preparation and so on.

The fact that it REQUIRES such a huge commitment from everyone is why it's not pushed more. It's last resort type deal.

Asala how is your sister and what if anything worked? When drs. were treating your sister was there any mention of the diet?

Well shes doing good at the moment, Shes been given a different kind of medication and so far its working well, She still has fit but they are reducing,

From what i know so far there no mention of a diet,

Shes still attending this specialist and hes working and documenting her case,

She is able to live so much better than she did, She gets around just like other teens now,

Our hope is that she one day is free of them,

As for that diet, her being a teen i really don't think she would be able to stick to something that Strick,

Glad to hear she is doing better, I hope she continues to improve. Apparently there is a window of opportunity for treatment with this diet that shrinks as one grows older, it seems to do better for children than adults.