What Diet Therapy Is Best for Drug-Resistant Childhood Epilepsy?

Though each diet reduced seizures, the modified Atkins and low glycemic index diets failed to show noninferiority to the ketogenic diet.

Children with drug-resistant epilepsy often benefit from the high-fat, low-carbohydrate ketogenic diet. To assess whether the low-carbohydrate modified Atkins diet (MAD) and low glycemic index (LGI) diet are equally effective in this setting, researchers in India conducted a randomized clinical trial assessing their noninferiority to the ketogenic diet for reducing seizure frequency after 24 weeks. Participants were 170 children aged 1 to 15 years (median age, approximately 1 year) with drug-resistant epilepsy (≥4 seizures/month without response on ≥2 antiepileptic medications).

In each group, baseline median seizure frequency was 9 per day. At week 24 of dietary therapy, median daily seizure frequency was 3.3 in those on the ketogenic diet …

Reviewing Author

F. Bruder Stapleton, MD

Disclosures

Consultant/Advisory BoardCareer Physician

Editorial BoardsUpToDate

Leadership Positions in Professional SocietiesAmerican Society of Pediatric Nephrology Foundation (Chair)

F. Bruder Stapleton, MD

Disclosures

Consultant/Advisory BoardCareer Physician

Editorial BoardsUpToDate

Leadership Positions in Professional SocietiesAmerican Society of Pediatric Nephrology Foundation (Chair)

What Diet Therapy Is Best for Drug-Resistant Childhood Epilepsy?

Topics

Reviewing Author