4beans4me
Thu, Dec-23-04, 08:05
High-fat diet helps epileptic child
Janet FrenchThe StarPhoenix
Thursday, December 23, 2004
It was a transformation so unexpected, her mother can only describe it as a miracle.
Eight-year-old Jennica Linklater was once thought to have the worst case of epilepsy in Saskatoon. The neurological disorder caused her to have as many as 130 seizures a day.
Last summer her seizures became so severe, she would frequently have to be resuscitated. She wore a helmet to prevent head injuries when she crashed to the ground. Epilepsy drugs made her fall asleep at school and she lost the ability to talk.
But thanks to an unusual and specialized high-fat diet, Jennica's seizures are all in the past now.
Jennica's mother Michelle admitted her daughter to hospital in August, hoping doctors would understand why her condition was worsening.
"I said, 'I'm not taking her home until you guys figure it out,' " Linklater said. "The doctor said, 'There's no hope.' "
Then Linklater's doctor, Royal University Hospital pediatric neurologist Dr. Noel Lowry, suggested Jennica try the ketogenic diet, an unconventional treatment where 80 per cent of calories come from fat. Sugar, protein and liquid intake is limited.
Like Atkins dieters, children kiss carbohydrates goodbye and restrict themselves to eating only fatty foods like margarine, mayonnaise, whipping cream and special fat-rich formulas. The diet throws a patient into a state called ketosis, where the body burns fat for energy instead of sugar.
"We don't know quite how it works but we do know the ketotic state produces a lot of biochemical changes in the brain, which really reduce the brain's tendency to produce seizures," Lowry said.
Jennica's typical meal consists of a special high-fat powder, whipping cream, water and a vitamin- and mineral-rich formula. She drinks as much as she can by mouth, and the rest is drained into her stomach through a tube.
Children typically stick to the diet for two to four years. When they are weaned off, they often remain seizure-free, Lowry said.
Friends who see Jennica now can't believe she's the same girl, her mother said.
"People who see her just notice such a change in her," Linklater said. "She can walk better. She sleeps all night. She's more alert."
The eight-year-old has been on the diet for 12 weeks and hasn't had a seizure for 10 weeks.
"We do really believe that God has intervened," Linklater said.
The about-face is especially exciting because Jennica tried the diet before as a toddler and it didn't work.
While success rates vary, doctors estimate two-thirds of patients who stick to the diet see some reduction in seizures.
Children like Jennica on the liquid form of the diet use a fat-rich formula that could break the bank. The Linklaters use KetoCal, a powder that costs about $700 a month.
It's not an expense Michelle Linklater can afford, as a single mother of two who works full-time. The family has had to go on social assistance to pay for the formula.
The Department of Community Resources and Employment, formerly Social Services, will only pay for the formula some of the time, Linklater said.
http://www.canada.com/news/story.html?id=fc72a065-ac3a-44e1-8dc8-347d66e1a0b4
Janet FrenchThe StarPhoenix
Thursday, December 23, 2004
It was a transformation so unexpected, her mother can only describe it as a miracle.
Eight-year-old Jennica Linklater was once thought to have the worst case of epilepsy in Saskatoon. The neurological disorder caused her to have as many as 130 seizures a day.
Last summer her seizures became so severe, she would frequently have to be resuscitated. She wore a helmet to prevent head injuries when she crashed to the ground. Epilepsy drugs made her fall asleep at school and she lost the ability to talk.
But thanks to an unusual and specialized high-fat diet, Jennica's seizures are all in the past now.
Jennica's mother Michelle admitted her daughter to hospital in August, hoping doctors would understand why her condition was worsening.
"I said, 'I'm not taking her home until you guys figure it out,' " Linklater said. "The doctor said, 'There's no hope.' "
Then Linklater's doctor, Royal University Hospital pediatric neurologist Dr. Noel Lowry, suggested Jennica try the ketogenic diet, an unconventional treatment where 80 per cent of calories come from fat. Sugar, protein and liquid intake is limited.
Like Atkins dieters, children kiss carbohydrates goodbye and restrict themselves to eating only fatty foods like margarine, mayonnaise, whipping cream and special fat-rich formulas. The diet throws a patient into a state called ketosis, where the body burns fat for energy instead of sugar.
"We don't know quite how it works but we do know the ketotic state produces a lot of biochemical changes in the brain, which really reduce the brain's tendency to produce seizures," Lowry said.
Jennica's typical meal consists of a special high-fat powder, whipping cream, water and a vitamin- and mineral-rich formula. She drinks as much as she can by mouth, and the rest is drained into her stomach through a tube.
Children typically stick to the diet for two to four years. When they are weaned off, they often remain seizure-free, Lowry said.
Friends who see Jennica now can't believe she's the same girl, her mother said.
"People who see her just notice such a change in her," Linklater said. "She can walk better. She sleeps all night. She's more alert."
The eight-year-old has been on the diet for 12 weeks and hasn't had a seizure for 10 weeks.
"We do really believe that God has intervened," Linklater said.
The about-face is especially exciting because Jennica tried the diet before as a toddler and it didn't work.
While success rates vary, doctors estimate two-thirds of patients who stick to the diet see some reduction in seizures.
Children like Jennica on the liquid form of the diet use a fat-rich formula that could break the bank. The Linklaters use KetoCal, a powder that costs about $700 a month.
It's not an expense Michelle Linklater can afford, as a single mother of two who works full-time. The family has had to go on social assistance to pay for the formula.
The Department of Community Resources and Employment, formerly Social Services, will only pay for the formula some of the time, Linklater said.
http://www.canada.com/news/story.html?id=fc72a065-ac3a-44e1-8dc8-347d66e1a0b4