A BOY diagnosed with severe epilepsy has been seizure-free since starting a "starvation" diet.
Neurologists had warned the family of Charlie Smith, four, that he was suffering from a catastrophic onset of epilepsy which could leave him with profound learning difficulties.
When medication failed to help, parents Debbie and Wayne decided to try the ketogenic diet – a low-carbohydrate, high-fat regime that mimics starvation.
The results, they say, have been extraordinary.
Charlie had been a completely healthy child up until January last year, when he woke one morning in the midst of a severe seizure.
Mum Debbie recalled: "It was completely out the blue. He was rushed to hospital and I just remember being absolutely terrified. They couldn't tell us what might have caused the sudden onset, and they still don't know."
Life became highly stressful for the frightened parents who have three other children, one of which has a disability. Charlie would suffer from "drop attacks" where he would fall unconscious to the ground, and sometimes he could have up to 300 absence seizures in a day. At one point, doctors took the couple aside to tell them they believed Charlie's condition was so severe, he may no longer be able to recognise them one day.
Anti-epileptic medication had little or no effect – as is the case for about 25 per cent of child sufferers – and so the family began to search for alternatives.
Debbie said: "We heard about the ketogenic diet as soon as Charlie was diagnosed, but we were told it should be the last resort.
"But when the pills didn't work, we were willing to try anything."
The family turned to Matthew's Friends Clinics, a Lingfield charity that provides help to families embarking on the diet, which must only be attempted under medical supervision.
Founder Emma Williams explained: "Its effects were discovered by accident in the 1920s, when epilepsy sufferers failed to eat properly, and found their seizures were dramatically reduced or stopped completely."
The diet forces the body to burn fats, putting it into a state of ketosis, which appears to reduce seizures, although it remains unclear why, or how this works.
Charlie proved to be a "super-responder" and after just three weeks, his seizures seemed to stop.
"It has changed our lives so much for the better," Debbie said. "It can be really time-consuming to prepare the meals but Charlie has taken to it – he's happy just to eat butter from a spoon!"
The couple recently shared their story in an episode of Channel 4 Food Hospital and hope to raise awareness of the diet, which is said to lead to at least a 50 per cent drop in seizures among two thirds of patients.
"Gone are the days when people used to have to drink cups of oil – we now have a range of adapted recipes," said Emma, whose own son, Matthew, suffers from epilepsy and has seen a dramatic reduction in seizures since going on the diet seven years ago.
Charlie remains seizure-free, and his parents are hoping to wean him off anti-convulsant drugs entirely in the future.
For more information about Matthew's Friends, visit www.mfclinics.com
