Hopkins release on Atkins

[Guest guest]

Thought folks might be interested in this press release from s Hopkins.

Hope I'm not repeating anyone...that can happen with digests. If so, my

apologies!

Rose-Marie,

mom to , age 7 1/2

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Atkins diet may reduce seizures in children with epilepsy

Along with helping some people shed unwanted pounds, the popular

low-carbohydrate, high-fat Atkins diet may also have a role in preventing

seizures in children with epilepsy, say researchers at the s Hopkins

Children's Center.

In a limited study of six patients, including three patients 12 years old and

younger on the Atkins regimen for at least four months, two children and one

young adult were seizure-free and were able to reduce use of anti-convulsant

medications. Findings of the study, scheduled for presentation today at the

American Epilepsy Society Meeting in Boston, also showed that seizure control

could be long-lasting on the diet, with the three patients continuing to be

seizure-free for as long as 20 months.

The researchers caution that because of the small number of study subjects,

their look at the relationship between the Atkins diet and seizure control

should not lead to its routine use in children with epilepsy, nor at this point

should the Atkins diet be used to replace the ketogenic diet the rigorous

high-fat, low-carbohydrate diet already proven to reduce or eliminate

difficult-to-control seizures in some patients.

The common elements in both diets are high fat and low carbohydrate foods that

alter the body's glucose chemistry. The ketogenic diet mimics some of the

effects of starvation, in which the body first uses up glucose and glycogen

before burning stored body fat. In the absence of glucose, the body produces

ketones, a chemical byproduct of fat that can inhibit seizures. Children who

remain seizure-free for two years on the ketogenic diet often can resume normal

eating and often their seizures don't return. The Atkins diet, while slightly

less restrictive than the ketogenic diet, also produces ketones.

" We just don't know yet how effective the Atkins diet is in reducing seizures or

if it comes close to the benefits of the ketogenic diet, but our report raises

new questions about the ideal level of calorie and protein restriction imposed

by the ketogenic diet, " said the study's lead author, Kossoff, M.D., a

pediatric neurologist at the Children's Center.

" By learning more about how the Atkins diet works to control seizures, we should

learn more about which patients may benefit best from either or both of these

diets, " he added. " It may be, for example, that some of those who can't tolerate

the restrictiveness of the ketogenic diet could be helped with Atkins. "

In the short term, Kossoff says it's possible the Atkins diet could be used in

selected patients as a " trial run " for individuals considering the ketogenic

diet in the future. " Success on the Atkins diet may be a good indication of

patient compliance and efficacy of the ketogenic diet, " he adds. " Because the

Atkins diet is easy to read and versions of it are available in paperback at

bookstores, families can easily follow this kind of a strict, low-carbohydrate

diet on their own for several weeks to determine if this is something they can

adhere to. "

Also, because the Atkins diet was originally designed for weight loss, Kossoff

says it is possible patients following the diet to reduce seizures may lose

weight in the process. If that does occur, and a patient's weight has reached

unhealthy levels, the patient should be instructed to increase calorie intake by

eating more fats and proteins.

In the Hopkins study, patients began with 10 grams of carbohydrates per day,

more than the typical amount provided on the ketogenic diet, but fewer than used

in the induction phase of the Atkins diet (20 grams/day). Carbohydrate intake

was gradually increased for some patients. Five out of the six patients attained

ketosis (the state of producing ketones) within days of starting the Atkins diet

and maintained moderate to large levels of ketosis for periods of six weeks to

24 months.

Kossoff says that Hopkins researchers will further examine the role the Atkins

diet plays in the management of epilepsy in a larger clinical study of 20

children with epilepsy, which began in September 2003 and already has enrolled

several patients.

Co-authors of the current study were L. Krauss, Jane R. McGrogan, and

M. Freeman of the Department of Neurology at the s Hopkins Hospital.

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