May 03 2008
High-fat diet will fight fits
May 3: A study conducted by the UK researchers has found that the high-fat level in diet will help in restricting fits in children who are suffering from epilepsy. Fits are caused by burst of electrical activity in the brain. After giving the children with “ketogenic” diet the frequency of seizure has reduced from once a day to once in three days.
The research published in Lancet Neurology revealed that the high-fat diet will help in changing the body metabolism by imitating the effects of starvation. The diet given to the children had high fat, low carbohydrate and controlled amount of protein. Researchers also recommended the diet to be made available through the NHS.
The study is considered as the first of its kind to compare diet with regular care. Parents of the children considered for the study opined that for the first two weeks it was difficult for them to prepare the prescribed diet, after knowing the benefits out of it they feel happy to prepare the food in bulk. The real reason behind this effect is yet to be revealed but the ketones produced from the breakdown of fat were found to restrict seizures.
In total 145 children aged between two and 16, who fail to recover after using anti-epileptic drugs are considered for the study. Half among them started the diet immediately and half waited for three months.
While commenting on this professor Helen Cross, the lead of the study and consultant in neurology at Great Ormond Street Hospital in London said that the diet had been followed for a long time but had fallen out of favour as it is believed to be too difficult to stick to.
After analysis the scientists found that the number of fits in children reduced to two-thirds of what they had earlier. But in those children who didn’t took the diet it remained unchanged. In the five children among the diet group the seizure rate reduced up to 90%. But the researchers also found some side effects such as constipation, vomiting, lack of energy and hunger.
