That's Fit

Did you ever see the movie Lorenzo's Oil? If you haven't, I highly recommend it. In short, it's about a young boy diagnosed with a rare disease. Ultimately, it's found that a special diet with certain fats helped him. I just stumbled across a news story that reminds me so much of that movie.

Ella, a six-year-old girl from the UK, was recently part of a clinical trial to test the effects of a ketogenic diet on epilepsy. Ella was healthy until her first birthday when she contracted pneumococcal meningitis. The severe infection left her with both hearing and learning difficulties. Later, after experiencing seizures, she was also diagnosed with epilepsy.

There was a brief, few months after her fourth birthday when Ella was free of seizures. The reprieve didn't last long, but it gave Ella's parents a chance to glimpse their daughter free of the debilitating seizures. That was the impetus for signing her up for the clinical trial.

In the trial, Ella was put on the ketogenic diet -- a medically-supervised diet that's high in fat and low in carbohydrates. The diet forces the body to produce ketones and use fat as its source of energy, instead of glucose. Ella's diet was very rigid and measured for appropriate amounts of calories, fats, proteins, and carbohydrates. In order for the diet to be effective, the proper balances must be maintained.

Within days her parents saw improvement in Ella's focus and concentration. Within six weeks, the seizures had slowed dramatically. Though Ella continues to have some seizures, they are less severe and her quality of life is greatly improved.

While the ketogenic diet is still undergoing trials in the UK, the diet is used to help children with epilepsy in other countries (including the US). The Epilepsy Foundation states that the diet helps one in three children. The diet is difficult to follow and can pose other health risks.