The safety and effectiveness of the ketogenic diet for the treatment of epilepsy have been known for decades. However, successful implementation of the diet requires an essential commitment by the patient and his or her family. Compliance with the ketogenic diet involves adjustments and often reversals of habitually established eating routines, as opposed to the task of consistently taking one’...

BACKGROUND The increasing use of the ketogenic diet (KD), particularly by women of child-bearing age, raises a question about its suitability during gestation. To date, no studies have thoroughly investigated the direct implications of a gestational ketogenic diet on embryonic development. METHODS To fill this knowledge gap we imaged CD-1 mouse embryos whose mothers were fed either a Standard...

BACKGROUND Altering the macronutrient composition of the diet influences hunger and satiety. Studies have compared high- and low-protein diets, but there are few data on carbohydrate content and ketosis on motivation to eat and ad libitum intake. OBJECTIVE We aimed to compare the hunger, appetite, and weight-loss responses to a high-protein, low-carbohydrate [(LC) ketogenic] and those to a hi...

PURPOSE Long-term ketogenic diet (KD) treatment has been shown to induce liver steatosis and gallstone formation in some in vivo and clinical studies. The aim of this retrospective study was to evaluate the hepatic side effects of KD in epileptic children. METHOD A total of 141 patients (mean age: 7.1±4.1years [2-18 years], 45.4% girls), receiving KD at least one year for intractable epilepsy...

The medium chain triglyceride (MCT) ketogenic diet is a major treatment of drug-resistant epilepsy but is problematic, particularly in adults, because of poor tolerability. Branched derivatives of octanoic acid (OA), a medium chain fat provided in the diet have been suggested as potential new treatments for drug-resistant epilepsy, but the structural basis of this functionality has not been det...

PURPOSE Previous research has indicated that children with seizures may prefer high fat foods - a preference compatible with ketogenic and modified Atkins dietary therapies. The purpose of this prospective study was to examine the relationship between fat preference and efficacy of therapeutic diets in treating intractable seizures among a pediatric population. METHODS Preference for high fat...

PURPOSE To analyze the electroclinical features, neuroimaging findings, treatment, and outcome of 12 patients with febrile infection-related epilepsy syndrome (FIRES). METHODS This is a retrospective study of 12 children with FIRES with a mean time of follow-up of 6.5 years carried out at the Garrahan Hospital of Buenos Aires between 1997 and 2012. RESULTS Eight males and four females had f...

The modified Atkins diet is a less restrictive variation of the ketogenic diet. This diet is started on an outpatient basis without a fast, allows unlimited protein and fat, and does not restrict calories or fluids. Recent studies have shown good efficacy and tolerability of this diet in refractory epilepsy. In this review, we discuss the use of the modified Atkins diet in refractory epilepsy.

While most epileptic patients respond to treatment with existing antiepileptic drugs, there remains a considerable number of patients in whom these drugs do not suffice. Such patients, particularly children, are often treated using the ketogenic diet. This diet imposes a strict limit on carbohydrates; while providing for adequate protein, most of the calories are supplied as triacylglycerol, mu...

The ketogenic diet with extremely high fat and very low carbohydrate levels is popular in society today. Although it has beneficial effects on epilepsy neurodegenerative diseases, how diets impact host glucose lipid metabolism gut microbiota still needs further investigation.