RE: Ketogenic Diets against Epilepsy
May 18, 2020 at 4:24 pm
(This post was last modified: May 18, 2020 at 4:25 pm by BrianSoddingBoru4.)
(May 18, 2020 at 4:05 pm)FlatAssembler Wrote:LadyForCamus Wrote:It’s used to treat children with seizure disorders who don’t respond to medication, and it has been demonstrated to be effective."Demonstrated" really isn't a word commonly used in science, since science usually doesn't deal with absolute certainty. And, when it comes to claims such as a diet being capable of treating some disease, I don't think you can even reach reasonable certainty.
brewer Wrote:I know it been used for thousands of yearsWell, yeah, fasting (which has similar physiological effects to ketogenic diet) has been recommended as a treatment for epilepsy since ancient times. But, guess what, so has bloodletting. Bloodletting has been used to treat various illnesses (including anaemia) for thousands of years, yet we now know it was, in best cases, a way to alleviate the symptoms without treating the underline cause, and, in most of the cases, it was actually counter-productive.
The chief difference is that bloodletting doesn’t work, ketosis does.
But it isn’t as if physicians are recommending ketogenic diets to all of their epileptic patients. A solid majority respond well to meds, about 30% do not. For these people, the diet is shown to work for the majority of them and to work very well.
Boru
‘I can’t be having with this.’ - Esmeralda Weatherwax