Epilepsy diet

[projekktor id=’23643′]

A young Brantford boy has a rare form of epilepsy and has experienced seizures for most of his life. Up until now it could only be treated with a specific diet that’s high fat and low carbohydrates, however a team at McMaster Children’s Hospital has now developed a new way to treat their patients like Hayden Wilson.

The current medical treatment is the “classic ketogenic diet”, which is 87-90% fat with foods like cream, salad dressings, butter and cheese. It eliminates fruits, grains and any sweets. Hayden’s doctor and dietitian are evolving the plan to allow more carbs.

“The trick is, this diet may have to be continued life long” says Dr. Ramachandrannair of McMaster Children’s Hospital

Within just 6 months of being on the diet Hayden has improved in school, mastering his abc’s and 123’s, a simple thing parents take for granted. At 5 months seizure free Hayden says he will keep up with his diet and smile on!

So far McMaster Children’s Hospital has treated 4 patients with this new form of diet. Hayden was the first with 100% success. Overall they have seen a 75% success rate. Doctors plan on testing one more patient before publishing their study.