Atkins-Like Diet Cuts Epileptic Seizures By Steven Reinberg
HealthDay Reporter
25 minutes ago
01-31-2008

THURSDAY, Jan. 31 (HealthDay News) -- Adults with epilepsy who have
failed other treatments may be able to dramatically reduce their
number of seizures by following a modified Atkins-like diet, Johns
Hopkins researchers report.

The high-protein, low-carbohydrate diet has already been shown to be
valuable in controlling seizures in children, and now results from a
small study suggest that the diet also works for adults.

"There are a lot of adults with very bad seizures. There are a lot of
adults who have failed medicines and are not candidates for other
treatments," said lead researcher Dr. Eric H. Kossoff, an assistant
professor of neurology and pediatrics at Johns Hopkins School of
Medicine.

For the study, Kossoff's team gave the diet to 30 adults who had
unsuccessfully tried at least two anti-convulsant drugs and had an
average of 10 seizures a week. The eating plan restricts patients to
15 grams of carbohydrates a day. Most of the calories come from fats
such as eggs, meats, oils and heavy cream. In addition, patients are
free to eat as much protein and no-carb drinks as they want.

"There was good news and bad news," Kossoff said. "The good news was
it worked. The bad news it was tough. About 30 percent of the patients
stopped the diet. This happened even in patients who had good seizure
control who thought the diet was still too tough to do."

After a month on the diet, half the patients reported suffering 50
percent fewer seizures. At three months, about one-third of the
patients cut the frequency of seizures by half.

However, by three months, one-third of the patients had dropped out of
the study because they found the diet too restrictive, Kossoff said.

The diet's side effects, such as increases in cholesterol or
triglycerides, were mild, Kossoff noted.

After six months on the diet, 14 patients continued with it, even
though the study was over, he said.

The findings are published in the February issue of the journal
Epilepsia.

No one knows how the diet works to reduce seizures, Kossoff said. And,
most people find it too hard to follow, so it's probably not a long-
term solution for most people with epilepsy, he added.

He also noted that patients who go on the diet need to continue with
it, perhaps for years to keep seizures under control.

But Kossoff thinks the diet can be simplified to make it easier to
follow. "We are looking at less time in the clinic and fewer
restrictions and without a dietitian," he said.

Dr. Gholam Motamedi, director of the epilepsy service at Georgetown
University Hospital, thinks the diet can be useful for patients who
have no other options.

"The study is promising, especially given that patients with
refractory epilepsy in particular -- those who are not surgical
candidates -- are left with not much hope," he said.

Normally, the plan for these patients is to try a combination of
different drugs or to use vagus nerve stimulation, but none of these
options offers much hope of seizure control, Motamedi said.

"Therefore, having another modality available is always welcomed by
the neurologists," he said. "It also encourages basic research looking
for insight to the underlying reasons for epilepsy."

More information

For more on epilepsy, visit the Epilepsy Foundation.

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