Heidi - bhb

[Guest guest]

,

Thanks for such a wealth of information! I appreciate the time you took to

explain that to me.

Heidi, future occupational therapist and single mom to (IS,

Severely/Multiply Impaired, Ketokid since 12/03) and twin brother, (4

years), and

big sis Madison (6).

[Guest guest]

,

Thanks for such a wealth of information! I appreciate the time you took to

explain that to me.

Heidi, future occupational therapist and single mom to (IS,

Severely/Multiply Impaired, Ketokid since 12/03) and twin brother, (4

years), and

big sis Madison (6).

[Guest guest]

,

Thanks for such a wealth of information! I appreciate the time you took to

explain that to me.

Heidi, future occupational therapist and single mom to (IS,

Severely/Multiply Impaired, Ketokid since 12/03) and twin brother, (4

years), and

big sis Madison (6).

[Guest guest]

Hi Heidi,

I just found a half completed post to you from quite a while ago when you

asked this question before - I'm sorry, I have a bad habit of doing that,

start a message, get side tracked, save it in my drafts folder and

completely forget it is there

Anyways, ketone bodies (the residue from incomplete fat burning) take the

form of bhb (or bohb) ie - betahydroxybutyric acid, and acetoacetate.

Bhb is measured in the blood, acetoacetate in the urine. Freeman's book

states that it is believed the bhb that in some way has anticonvulsant

properties, and that it is the bhb in the blood circulating that gives the

more accurate reflection of what is being 'used' by the brain.

The urine testing can also give a rather inaccurate picture, for instance,

if the bladder is not voided for say 5 hrs, then it will contain a 'mix' of

ketones from over that whole 5 hr period. This is often pertinent if you

were looking at trying to control say early am sleep seizures. If the child

is continent, and the first urine test of the morning shows say an '8', the

bladder contents are in fact a mix of the ketones from the night before

(which may have been up as high of 16) and from throughout the night, when

no ketogenic meals have been consumed etc.

The only way to get an 'instant' idea of what the ketone level is at,

really has to therefore be by blood draw, either thru a lab test, or at home

by a fingerprick test with a kit similar to the ones diabetics use for

glucose testing.

As with urine ketones, there is an approximate range of optimum blood

ketones required for seizure control, but as with the urine readings, this

varies from child to child. Most (according to a Hopkins study) need a

blood ketone (or bhb ) reading of around 4.0 (from the vein, so a

fingerprick capillary reading that is diluted by plasma etc would equate to

approx 3.0 ) or above for seizure control, others may need a level of 5 -

6, or even higher.

Some on the other hand only need to show 2.0 or above. Once you have a

pattern established that fits your own child though, you then get a fairly

good idea of where they need to 'sit' as far as optimum bhb levels go.

Let me know if anything is unclear,

----- Original Message -----

> I'm sorry - what are BHB's?

> Heidi, future occupational therapist and single mom to (IS,

> Severely/Multiply Impaired) and twin brother, (4 years), and big

sis Madison (6).