High-protein, Low-carbohydrate diet may help reduce Seizures

      Study indicates high-protein, low-carbohydrate diet may help reduce seizures among some patients with epilepsy.

Adult patients "with epilepsy who have failed other treatments may be able to dramatically reduce their number of seizures by following a modified Atkins-like diet," according to a study published in the Feb. issue of the journal Epilepsia.

Eric H. Kossoff, M.D., of the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, and colleagues, gave the "high-protein, low-carbohydrate" diet to "30 adults who had unsuccessfully tried at least two anti-convulsant drugs," and who still "had an average of 10 seizures a week."

After following the diet for one month, "half the patients reported suffering 50 percent fewer seizures," and nearly "one-third of the patients cut the frequency of seizures by half" after three months.

While "side effects, such as increases in cholesterol or triglycerides, were mild," the diet is difficult to follow, and about 30 percent of the participants discontinued it.