This review reports on the past, current and potential future developments in aspects of the ketogenic diet in epilepsy treatment for children who have refractory epilepsy (uncontrolled seizures after having tried at least two anti-epileptic drugs). The ketogenic diet is based on putting the body into ketosis, so that is uses ketones rather than glucose for the energy in the brain. The diet com...

Ketogenic diet (KD) is a high fat and low carbohydrate diet, which controls refractory epilepsy. We analyzed the KD effects on 54 children of the Children's Institute of the University of São Paulo. Efficacy, tolerability, and adverse effects were studied. Response to KD was effective (E) if seizure control was >75%, good (G) when 50-75%. When possible, we correlated the results with the epilep...

objective the lennox-gastaut syndrome (lgs: the triad of intractable seizures of various types, a slow spike-wave pattern in eeg and mental retardation) is one of the most difficult epilepsy syndromes to treat. the aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of zonisamide (zns) as add-on therapy in seizures of children with lgs. materials & methods in a quasi- experimental study, ...

Lamotrigine (LTG), a newly developed antiepileptic drug (AED), is efficacious in treating refractory epilepsy. This study was designed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of LTG as add-on therapy in 40 children with refractory epilepsy. The trial was an open-labeled prospective study in children with drug-resistant epilepsy aged

The medium chain triglyceride (MCT) ketogenic diet is used extensively for treating refractory childhood epilepsy. This diet increases the plasma levels of medium straight chain fatty acids. A role for these and related fatty acids in seizure control has not been established. We compared the potency of an established epilepsy treatment, Valproate (VPA), with a range of MCT diet-associated fatty...

objective the aim of the present study was to evaluate the efficacy and tolerability of a modified atkins diet for intractable childhood epilepsy. materials & methods twenty one children with medically intractable epilepsy were enrolled in the study. inclusion criteria were at least four seizures per month and a trial of at least three anticonvulsants without becoming seizure-free. the subjects...

An increasing number of data demonstrate the utility of ketogenic diets in a variety of metabolic diseases as obesity, metabolic syndrome, and diabetes. In regard to neurological disorders, ketogenic diet is recognized as an effective treatment for pharmacoresistant epilepsy but emerging data suggests that ketogenic diet could be also useful in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Alzheimer, Parkinso...

Glucose transporter type 1 (GLUT1) deficiency syndrome (GLUT1-DS) leads to a wide range of neurological symptoms. Ketogenic diets are very efficient to control epilepsy and movement disorders. We tested a novel simple and rapid blood test in 30 patients with GLUT1-DS with predominant movement disorders, 18 patients with movement disorders attributed to other genetic defects, and 346 healthy con...

Epilepsy is a common manifestation of tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC). More than 80% of individuals with TSC will have seizures, most often beginning in childhood. Several new anticonvulsant medications have become available in recent years, and these drugs along with older medications control the seizures for many individuals. Unfortunately, for some individuals with TSC, the seizure activity...