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zoobyshoe
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http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/health/...et-prevents-seizures-scientists-may-know-why/The ketogenic diet mimics aspects of starvation by forcing the body to burn fats instead of carbohydrates. The diet produces ketones in the body, organic compounds that form when the body uses fat, instead of glucose, as a source of energy. An elevated level of ketone bodies in the blood reduces the frequency of epileptic seizures.
The study, published in the journal Neuron and conducted in genetically-altered mice, found that the effect of the ketogenic diet on epilepsy can be mimicked using a much more specific and non-dietary approach by manipulating a particular protein in mice, said Gary Yellen, a professor of neurobiology at Harvard Medical School and co-author of the study.
“This points toward potential new ways of treating epilepsy in patients for whom current drugs are not effective,” said Yellen.
It's been known for over a century that the ketogenic diet is effective but a lot of parents won't adopt it because it requires complete control of every meal. They opt to try and get their kid into a program at Johns Hopkins where, once accepted, the kid goes to live and his meals are controlled by that program. Space is limited and many are turned away.
Experimenting in mice, the researchers found they could mimic the effects of the diet by altering a specific protein, known as BAD. Seizures decreased in the mice.
While the research must first be replicated in humans, Yellen said, in the long run, scientists should be able to target this pathway pharmacologically.
Someone will have to explain to me how they might "manipulate" a protein and what targeting this pathway pharmacologically might entail.