Epilepsy: A Modern Day Twist to an Ancient Remedy

Epilepsy is a neurological disorder that can be debilitating for many of the people affected by it. One of the major modern day quandaries is that about 30-40% of patients become immune to the medicines that they are given to combat the seizures. This is known as ‘pharmacoresistance’ or ‘refractoriness’. This can occur after only one drug has been tried, or after several. From the energy healing perspective this is fascinating!

Apart from the more well-known triggers of, for example, flashing lights, lack of sleep and excess stress, the cause of epilepsy – why it occurs – is not known. Scientists know how it happens but not what really triggers it.  There are already many medicines – called anticonvulsants or antiepileptica – to calm down the overactivity in the brain so that the massive electrical discharge, which produces the seizures, is reduced. These drugs work on different target areas and pathways in the brain. Some help to dim the excitement, others help to raise the threshold at which the excitement occurs. Yet in spite of all the advances being made and the arsenal of drugs available to target increasingly more accurately sub-parts of sub-parts of the brain, the quandary of resistance to drugs remains a problem for 30-40% of epileptic patients. That is a lot.

Enter now a ‘new’ old player to this scene, and from the world of natural medicine.

Diet.
 
Since the time of Hippocrates, fasting and dietary restriction were ways of treating epilepsy. At the beginning of the 1900s a faith healer (Bernarr Macfadden) and an osteopathic physician (Dr. Hugh Conklin) started recommending the use of fasting and prayer for a boy with seizures. Normally the brain uses glucose as fuel, which it obtains from carbohydrates. However, during fasting the brain is forced to obtain is fuel from a source other than carbohydrates. It does this from chemicals called ketones. As scientific methods improved the concept evolved that a high-fat diet could mimic the ‘ketosis’ that occurs during fasting. In the early 1920s a certain Dr. Wilder introduced the concept of a diet consisting of ‘ketogenic’ and ‘antiketogenic’ components for the treatment of epilepsy. Groups in Minnesota, New York and Maryland studied the use of the diet and its success for many years. Its use declined with the introduction of the first anticonvulsant drug (phenytoin) in 1938. Taking a pill seemed like a miracle cure and was so much easier than following dietary changes (oh how recognisable!).

This is the state of affairs that has continued for more than half a century. However in the 1990s, Johns Hopkins Hospital resurrected the diet to treat a child with severe epilepsy. It was successful. This sparked renewed interest into a ‘new’ treatment for epilepsy, and with the modern day research techniques, scientists are now discovering the molecular mechanism of HOW this old diet actually works.

In large-scale trials across the world it appears that the ketogenic diet is extremely successful. It works across the board for men, women and children of all ages, and appears to also work for those who have developed resistance to the anticonvulsants. The diet does need to be performed under medical supervision because even though there are very few side effects, it is important to keep the body biochemistry in balance – and this needs to be monitored.

The ketogenic diet is high in fat and low in carbohydrates and proteins so that the typical (gram) ratio of fats to carbohydrates and proteins is between 3:1 and 4:1. To give you an idea of what the ketogenic diet involves, there is a day’s sample menu (American….!) shown below.

Breakfast: Quiche with bacon

Lunch: Belgian salad with avocados, pineapple and pecan nuts

Dinner: Sausage, potato and sauerkraut
Creamy milkshake

Snacks: Cheesecake with blueberries

What is so fascinating in this whole topic for ‘On the Border’ readers is the way the old expertise and methods combine with modern day science. As research continues to dig and expose, then to dig deeper and expose more, we start to put together the whole story until everything eventually falls into place. In the current explorations to clarify the mechanism of the ketogenic diet many simple but extremely elegant processes are emerging which are providing some wonderful new avenues for the treatment of epilepsy. For those of you who are interested in the current research then the references below provide the latest information and insights. If you are unable to access the publications then please let me know and I can Email them to you them in pdf format.

As we understand the details, intricacies and complexities the more we are left in awe at the body and the intelligence in it….and the more questions that get answered, the more questions there are that arise…that is research!

References:
Epilepsy website for a wealth of information about all aspects of epilepsy, including the ketogenic diet http://www.epilepsy.com

R. M. Wilder, ‘The Effect of Ketonemia on the Course of Epilepsy.’ Mayo Clinic Bulletin. 1921, volume 2, page 307.

T. D. Swink, E. P. G. Vining and J. M. Freeman. ‘The Ketogenic Diet:1997’. Advances in Pediatrics. 1997, volume 44, pages 297-329.

E. E. Bailey, H. H. Pfeifer and E. A. Thiele. ‘The use of diet in the treatment of epilepsy’. Epilepsy and Behaviour, 2005, volume 6, pages 4-8.

J. Freeman, P. Veggiotti, G. Lanzi, A. Tagliabue and E. Perucca. ‘The Ketogenic Diet: From Molecular Mechanism to Clinical Effects’. Epilepsy Research. 2006, volume 68, pages 145-180.

Y. Z. Huang and J. O. McNamara. ‘Inhibiting Glycolysis to Reduce Seizures: How it Might Work.’ Nature Neuroscience. 2006, volume 9, number 11, pages 1351-1352.
 
J. Owens. ‘Neurological Disorders: Food for Thought’. Nature Neuroscience Reviews. 2006, volume 7, page 904.

A. L. Hartman and E. P. G. Vining. ‘Clinical Aspects of the Ketogenic Diet’. Epilepsia. 2007, volume 48, pages 31-42.

K. J. Bough and J. M. Rho. ‘Anticonvulsant Mechanisms of the Ketogenic Diet’. Epilepsia. 2007, volume 48, pages 43-58.