Epilepsy Resistant to Drug Therapy

Epilepsy is a disease of the central nervous system and is characterized by the persistent recurrence of sudden convulsive seizures, often multiple times a day, which strike without warning and are manifested by involuntary, abrupt and uncontrolled movements of the muscles, sometimes accompanied by loss of consciousness, leading to global deterioration. This disease is also to be considered a social problem both because of the inherent severity of the disease and the repercussions on the families of young patients. The use of the ketogenic diet, as a therapy for drug-resistant epilepsy, dates back to the 1920s.

Epilepsy is a disease of the central nervous system and is characterized by the persistent recurrence of sudden convulsive seizures, often multiple times a day, which strike without warning and are manifested by involuntary, abrupt and uncontrolled movements of the muscles, sometimes accompanied by loss of consciousness, leading to global deterioration. This disease is also to be considered a social problem both because of the inherent severity of the disease and the repercussions on the families of young patients. The use of the ketogenic diet, as a therapy for drug-resistant epilepsy, dates back to the 1920s.

From 1921 onward (Wilder "The Effect of Ketonemia on the Course of Epilepsy," Mayo Clinic Bull. 2:307, 1921) scientific papers on the use of the ketogenic diet as a treatment for epilepsy multiplied. After this initial enthusiasm, interest in the diet waned rapidly in the 1940s and 1950s; it was not until the 1970s that it was rediscovered and is currently used as a therapy in drug-resistant epilepsy in most countries of the world. In recent years, a large number of scientific papers have been published on the use of this diet by researchers from all 5 continents, and, especially in English-speaking countries, support from patient and family associations is very substantial and contributes to the dissemination and understanding of the diet.