Study: Microbes are the reason the keto diet protects against epileptic seizures!
Diets higher in fat and significantly lower in carbohydrates are known to have a significant effect on reducing the incidence of seizures in individuals with drug-resistant forms of epilepsy, especially among children.
While it has become clear that diet creates a shift in intestinal bacteria, the exact nature of these changes and their link to the prevalence of seizures remains a mystery.
In a prospective study in children and experiments involving mice, researchers from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) bring us one step closer to understanding how the foods we eat change the functions of microbes in our digestive system, which in turn affects a variety of neurological functions suspected to play a role in Epilepsy, according to what was reported by the “Science Alert” website from the scientific medical journal “Cell Reports”.
About 50 million people around the world suffer from recurring surges of electrical discharges across the brain in what is diagnosed as epilepsy, resulting in anything from moments of inattention to severe convulsions. Most benefit from medication, but for about 30 percent, their cases are considered resistant to treatment.
It is worth noting that the “keto diet” is a nutritional balance that restricts the daily intake of starches and sugars, and it has been described as a means of losing weight since the 1970s.
While the health benefits of the keto diet for most people have been debated, there is growing evidence that high-fat, low-carb diets somehow reduce the risk of seizures in people with refractory epilepsy.
In this context, studies estimate that about 30% of children with treatment-resistant epilepsy become seizure-free while following the diet, while about 60% obtain “significant benefits” by reducing the frequency of their seizures by more than half.
Unfortunately, sticking to the diet can be a challenge. Children can be selective eaters, without imposing more restrictions on what they can eat. In addition to digestive problems, the risk of kidney stones, and a variety of other side effects. It’s no wonder not everyone has stuck to the keto diet over the years, except for a handful of them.
By learning how a particular combination of nutrients leads to neurological changes that reduce the chance of seizures, researchers hope they can devise new treatments that do not rely on such a tailored diet.
To further explain, the lead author of the study, molecular biologist at the University of California, Dr. Gregory Lum, says, “Narrowing down the functions of beneficial microbes in protecting against seizures could lead to new ways to enhance the effectiveness of the ketogenic diet or to mimic its beneficial effects.”
Working in the lab of biologist Elaine Hsayu at UCLA, Lum led a team of researchers to unveil an important network of interactions between microbes in the gut of mouse models of epilepsy, the chemicals they produce, and gene products in the hippocampus.
After investigating the effects of the keto diet on the gut biomes of 10 children with refractory epilepsy at UCLA Mattel Children’s Hospital, Lum and his team conducted an experiment in which they introduced genetically modified microflora.
Microflora samples collected from children who had been on the keto diet for about a month proved to be more effective in reducing seizures in mice than samples collected before the children started the diet.
The researchers also revealed metabolic changes in both humans and mice related to energy production, amino acid metabolism, and specific forms of fatty acid oxidation.
Mice that received a microbiota altered by the keto diet were also found to have changes in the activity of genes in the hippocampus that were previously linked to epilepsy.
Figuring out how these changes specifically inhibit the conditions that lead to seizures could pave the way toward drugs designed to work; Where other medications have failed. Even among those who have never had epilepsy.
This research is just another example of how the many organisms that live inside our gut play an essential role in determining how our entire body functions. It’s time to learn how to eat.
2024-01-02 14:53:19
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