1. A blinded, crossover study of the efficacy of the ketogenic diet.
- Author
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Freeman, John M., Vining, Eileen P.G., Kossoff, Eric H., Pyzik, Paula L., Xiaobu Ye, and Goodman, Steven N.
- Subjects
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KETOGENIC diet , *ELECTROENCEPHALOGRAPHY , *DIAGNOSIS of brain diseases , *DIET in disease , *ACETONEMIA - Abstract
Despite over 80 years of use, the ketogenic diet (KD) has never been tested in a blinded manner. Twenty children with intractable Lennox-Gastaut syndrome (LGS) were fasted 36 h and then randomized to receive the classic KD in conjunction with a solution containing either 60 g/day of glucose or saccharin. Parents and physicians were blinded to both the solution composition and level of ketosis. A crossover to the KD with the alternate solution occurred following the sixth day and a repeat fast. A 24-h electroencephalography (EEG) was obtained at baseline and after each arm. After administration of the solution, there was moderate evidence of a reduction in parent-reported seizures between the glucose and saccharin arms, with a median difference of 1.5 seizures per day (p = 0.07). There was no reduction in the number of EEG-identified events, with a median reduction of 7 events per day (p = 0.33). Ketosis was not completely eliminated in the glucose-added arm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2009
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