Ketogenic Diet Therapies in Adults

Abstract

AbstractKetogenic diet therapy for epilepsy has been used in adults for over 100 years. Adults with medically refractory epilepsy as well as children on diet therapies transitioning to adult care need specialty providers to support diet use. About 20% to 60% of adults report at least a 50% improvement in seizure frequency on diet therapy, and many patients report improvement in cognition and other areas as well. Diet therapy is also used in status epilepticus, with resolution of refractory status epilepticus reported in over 70% of patients. Long-term cardiovascular effects and the effects of diet therapy in pregnancy are areas of ongoing study.