Among patients with epilepsy who follow a ketogenic diet, complete seizure control after 2 years is achieved in 24% — a 90% reduction in seizures is achieved in 52%. Unfortunately, only about 50% of patients (often children) can stay with the diet.
Now, a study reported during the annual meeting of the American Epilepsy Society concludes that seizure control with the Atkins diet is a possible alternative.
Continue reading Atkins: An effective alternative to the ketogenic diet for epilepsy
Baicalin (Chinese skullcap) comes from Scutellaria baicalensis Georgi. This anti-inflammatory herbal is used in traditional Chinese medicine to treat cancer, liver disease, allergies, skin conditions, and epilepsy. Rosuvastatin (Crestor) is a member of the stain class of drugs used to lower LDL (bad) cholesterol. Continue reading Herb-drug interaction between baicalin and rosuvastatin
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has released its biennial revision of “the yellow book,” a health guide for international travel.
It’s comprehensive. The focus here is on Chapter 6: Jet Lag. Continue reading CDC reviews CAM options to minimize jet lag
Belinda at The Patient Connection is seeking opinions and experiences from people with epilepsy and their parents/caregivers. Topics include medication, ketogenic diets, and surgery.
From what I can tell, this is a company that specializes in conducting focus groups and opinion research for their clients. Ultimately, their work complements clinical trial results. Continue reading Sharing epilepsy treatment experiences
It”s illegal for supplements to be promoted as a “treatment” for a disease. They can “support” health, or “boost” the immune system, or use other vague claims. But before any product can legally state that it can treat a specific disease it must pass US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulations for drugs.
The dietary supplements listed below have crossed the line by claiming to treat cancer, arthritis, fibromyalgia, and seizures.
Continue reading Advertising claims for more dietary supplements “cross the line”
It’s called WellPatch Cough & Cold Soothing Vapor Pads.
It was intended to be applied to the throat or chest of children two years of age and older so they could inhale the vapors. Unfortunately, it was easy for the munchkins to remove the patch and place it in their mouths.
Continue reading Recall of a camphor, eucalyptus oil, and menthol patch product
Among patients with epilepsy who follow a ketogenic diet, complete seizure control after two years of treatment is achieved in 24%, while a 90% reduction in seizures is achieved in 52%. In other words, the reward for being able to tolerate this stringent, mathematically calculated diet that is high in fat and low in protein and carbohydrates is at least a 90% reduction in seizures in 3 out of 4 patients. These findings are part of a meta-analysis of 19 clinical trials of more than 1000 patients.
This is even more impressive when one considers that candidates for the diet are generally young children with medically intractable generalized seizures. It’s not easy. About 50% of patients drop out of the diet over time. The main reason given is that the diet was not effective. Other reasons include complaints that the diet is too restrictive, intolerability due to side effects, or just poor compliance that makes the effort not worthwhile.
The children and their parents and caregivers who stay with the effort deserve credit for their persistence and commitment, especially since the response is not immediate.
For more information on how the ketogenic diet works, go here. A good introduction is available here.
7/13/06 09:35 JR