Understanding and controlling epilepsy through diet

Epilepsy is a dangerous disease without a definitive cure. Read on to learn more about the disease and how a modern diet that might help you control it.

More than 1.5 million North Americans have some form of epilepsy, which is recurrent seizures triggered by abnormal electrical impulses in the brain.

• Some seizures are so mild and fleeting that they are barely noticeable; others last for several minutes, during which the person falls down and is seized by convulsive movements.
• The frequency of seizures also varies from person to person; some epileptics suffer many seizures each day, while others may go for months between episodes.

Neurologists generally discount any link between diet and epilepsy, with some exceptions.

• Epileptics who have migraine headaches that are triggered by certain foods often cease to have seizures when the offending foods are eliminated.
• Some diabetics suffer seizures when their blood sugar levels drop suddenly.
• Large amounts of alcohol consumed in a short time can cause seizures.
• Although evidence is sketchy, there have been rare reports of aspartame triggering seizures in epileptics.

A rigid high-fat diet that appears to halt seizures in children whose attacks cannot be controlled by drugs has been hailed as a recent breakthrough. In reality, however, the diet dates to the early 1900s, when doctors devised a dietary treatment for epilepsy based on the ancient observation that seizures ceased during periods of prolonged fasting.

• With the development of effective anticonvulsant drugs, the dietary treatment was dropped. But now neurologists have refined a dietary treatment for severe epilepsy.
• After about 24 hours of fasting, the body depletes its reserves of glucose and starts to burn stored fat for energy. However, burning fat in the absence of glucose gives off waste products called ketone bodies, which build up in the blood and are excreted in the urine.
• Very high blood levels of ketones can upset body chemistry, and even lead to a coma and death. But at lower levels they can eliminate seizures.
• Carefully structuring the diet by allowing only a sprinkling of ­carbohydrates can result in a therapeutic level of ketones in the bloodstream.
• This regimen, called the ketogenic diet, appears to work best in young children, especially that 20 percent whose seizures are not adequately controlled by drugs.
• The diet provides about 75 percent of the calories generally recommended for healthy children, and most of these come from fats.
• A small amount of protein is added to allow for at least some growth, but carbohydrates are kept to a minimum.
• Fluid intake is restricted. The diet must be carefully tailored and then followed exactly; a small deviation can bring on seizures.
• To begin, the child is hospitalized for two or three days of fasting, after which the ketogenic diet is gradually introduced. The diet can be difficult to follow, but after two to three years, most patients can resume a normal diet and still be seizure-free.

Of course, this high-fat diet isn't for everyone. Keep this guide in mind and contact your doctor for more information about the ketogenic diet and other treatment options.