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. 2023 Feb 6;13(1):2102.
doi: 10.1038/s41598-023-27373-1.

Ketogenic diet for epilepsy control and enhancement in adaptive behavior

Omnia Fathy El-Rashidy  1 , May Fouad Nassar  2 , Wafaa Abdelwahab Shokair  3 , Yasmin Gamal Abdou El Gendy  1
Affiliations

Ketogenic diet for epilepsy control and enhancement in adaptive behavior

Omnia Fathy El-Rashidy et al. Sci Rep. .

Abstract

The Ketogenic Diet (KD) is gaining attention as a management line in childhood drug resistant epilepsy (DRE). The objective of this study was to highlight KD benefits for Ain Shams University (ASU) Children's Hospital patients. This cross-sectional study included all patients at the Ketoclinic of ASU Children's Hospital since it started. Anthropometric measurements and laboratory data were recorded. Chalfont severity score and daily frequency of epileptic attacks were used to evaluate KD efficacy. Vineland test was used to demonstrate the adaptive behavior of a selected group of patients. ASU Children's Hospital Ketoclinic records included 143 patients. During KD therapy, the weight and height/length assessment showed significant increase with significant decrease in the severity of seizures and its frequency. There were no significant changes in the lipid profile of the patients. Vineland test showed significant improvement in the adaptive behavior in 65% of patients. The Ketoclinic data proves that KD is a tolerable, safe, and effective line of therapy for DRE in children without significant negative impact on their anthropometric measurements or lipid profile. Furthermore, the enhancement in adaptive behavior is a promising finding. It is prudent to recommend wider scale studies for longer duration to demonstrate additional cognitive benefits of KD in pediatric age group.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
(a,b) Algorithm of the Ketoclinic protocol at the Children’s hospital Faculty of Medicine, Ain Shams University (ASU).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Initial and follow up values of cholesterol, high density lipoproteins (HDL), low density lipoproteins (LDL) and triglycerides in ketoclinic patients.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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