Re: High-Fat Diet Ends Epileptic Seizures For Boy

[Guest guest]

The ketogenic diet has been around for many years. Some link it to the

Bible verse of ³ fasting and prayers² because some say the ancient ketogenic

diet is the way to make the body think it is fasting. s Hopkins did the

research many years ago. I have old video somewhere. It did seem to help

severe cases, but the fat sources were very unhealthy. If my child had life

threatening seizures, I would give it a try with a holistic type doctor

supervising. I wouldn¹t try it on my own.

I first met Will because I was looking for help for my 7 year old dog with

grand mal seizures. I lived in Uptown and the first vet gave me phenobarb.

Being a good dog mom, decided to see if there was another option to

phenobarb. Will didn¹t hand out phenobarb like candy. He first did labs

(which cost no more $ than the first vet) and told me that my dog had TO

much bad fat. My dog was overweight, had cysts, etc. It wasn¹t me feeding

her, but I did feed kibble back then. My elderly neighbors loved dogs, were

reluctant to get one given their age. Being a nice person, I had them take

care of my dog while I was at work. They fed margarine with grocery store

eggs, potato chips, etc. My dog got seizures at age 7. Once Will taught me

how to feed (and I had to talk to my kind, elderly neighbors), my dog lived

another 7 years seizure free. The cysts disappeared, her gray came in

black.

Kathy

on 1/20/10 7:11 AM, JS at inishglora@... wrote:

>

>

>

>

>

> File this under " We could have told you that. " Note the mother's tearful

> reaction to the idea of feeding all that saturated fat to her kid... Now

> they're worried about his cholesterol. They'll probably put him on a regimen

> of statin drugs next. Sheesh!

> ~Joe

>

> High-Fat Diet Ends Epileptic Seizures For Boy

> http://wcco.com/health/high.fat.diet.2.1436243.html

>

> Max Irvine is on a diet high in fat and low in carbohydrates, which has helped

> eliminate the number of seizures he's had.

>

> A trip to the doctor is all good news these days for 4-year-old Max Irvine.

>

> Just a year ago, however, Max was enduring more than 100 seizures a day. Even

> a barrage of tests at the famed Mayo Clinic's Epilepsy Laboratory revealed no

> clear medical explanation. Epilepsy was consuming every waking hour of Max's

> life.

>

> " It got to the point where he couldn't walk or talk or function, or even eat

> hardly, " said Max's father Troy Irvine.

>

> Medications control epilepsy for 75 percent of children, but not for Max. His

> family watched helplessly as the light disappeared from his eyes. Max's

> playful nature vanished. Priceless intellectual developmental time was being

> lost.

>

> Finally, Mayo Clinic Pediatric Neurologist Elaine Wirrell, an epilepsy

> specialist, proposed trading all of Max's meds for a radical change in diet.

> The Ketogenic Diet is very low in carbohydrates and super high in fats. Max's

> initial diet meal plan contained 80 percent fat.

>

> " I just remember having tears and thinking how can I be giving my child so

> much fat, " said Max's mother, e Irvine. " The majority of his meal was

> bacon and butter, or oil and maybe one strawberry. It was very hard to adjust

> to that. "

>

> Butter as an entree. Bacon as a main course. Flavored Canola oil as a

> beverage. Dr. Wirrell said the strict diet is worth a try for nearly any child

> who does not respond to medication.

>

> " Over half of them have a meaningful reduction of seizures and nearly a third

> of them become seizure free on the diet, " she said.

>

> Exactly why the diet works is unknown. Wirrell said research suggests it

> stabilizes brain cells and alters neurotransmitters, the brain chemicals that

> allow cells to signal each other. The Ketogenic Diet has actually been around

> since the 1920s. It was first described at the Mayo Clinic, in fact.

>

> An obvious question the Irvines had was whether the cholesterol would create a

> new problem for Max's health.

>

> " We monitor the children very carefully, " Wirrell said. " We monitor their

> blood for cholesterol problems. And in truth very few children actually end up

> with cholesterol or lipid problems on the diet. "

>

> Max's remarkable improvement is documented on his EEG, an

> electroencephalogram. The previous lightning storm of misfiring electrical

> activity has now calmed. Max is taking no epilepsy medications and is

> seizure-free.

>

> Wirrell said many children are able to come off the diet after getting better

> and their epilepsy does not necessarily return. Max's brain is thought to have

> recovered enough that he is being gradually transitioned to normal meals.

>

>

>

>

>