Thu, Nov-26-15, 08:31
|
|
Senior Member
Posts: 15,075
|
|
Plan: mostly milkfat
Stats: 190/152.4/154
BF:
Progress: 104%
Location: Ontario
|
|
This isn't about intentionally raising ketones for its own sake, but seems at home on this thread;
Quote:
New diet provides hope for treating patients with drug resistant epilepsy
Scientists from Royal Holloway, University of London and UCL have identified how a specific diet can be used to help treat patients with uncontrolled epilepsy.
The findings, which reveal how the ketogenic diet acts to block seizures in patients with drug-resistant epilepsy, are published in the journal Brain.
Epilepsy affects over 50 million people worldwide and approximately a third of people diagnosed with epilepsy do not have seizures adequately controlled by current treatments.
The research team have identified a specific fatty acid, decanoic acid, provided in the MCT (medium chain triglyceride, a chemical containing three fatty acids) ketogenic diet that has potent anti-epileptic effects. The diet comprises of high levels of fat and low levels of carbohydrate-containing foods.
"By examining the fats provided in the diet, we have identified a specific fatty acid that outperforms drugs currently used for controlling seizures, and that may have fewer side effects," said Professor Robin Williams from the Centre for Biomedical Sciences at the School of Biological Sciences at Royal Holloway.
"This discovery will enable us to develop improved formulations that are now likely to significantly improve the treatment of epilepsy. It will offer a whole new approach to the management of epilepsies in children and adults," added Professor Matthew Walker from UCL's Institute of Neurology.
"Finding that the therapeutic mechanism of the diet is likely to be through the fat, rather than widely accepted by generation of ketones, may enable us to develop improved diets, and suggests we should re-name the diet simply 'the MCT diet'" said Professor Williams.
|
http://www.sciencedaily.com/release...51125083815.htm
First off--the paper itself acknowledges that there are causes of epilepsy, such as Glut 1 deficiency, where ketones are the likely protective factor. These guys are just chasing down reasons why MCT oil seems to be protective, even when ketones aren't all that high. And what they've shown is that this is effective in a model of epileptic seizures, not in living human beings, yet. The fatty acid in question is highly ketogenic--so unless they modify it to keep it from increasing ketones, I don't know how they'll know for certain that increased efficacy isn't at least partly due to ketones.
I've seen valproic acid described as a decanoic acid analog, so maybe what they'll have is just a more effective replacement for that.
A lot of the kids put on a ketogenic diet are put on it because conventional medicines like valproic acid failed.
This all brings something else up--even when ketones are high, by most of the usual approaches to ketosis, ketones aren't all that's been elevated.
One possible factor is that medium chain triglycerides and short chain triglycerides can cross the brain barrier. Unlike long chain triglycerides, these fatty acids don't need the carnitine transport system to enter mitochondria for beta oxidation. Giving medium chains the potential to support brain metabolism, beyond the production of ketones.
|