Does the ketogenic diet for infantile spasms work?

       Infantile spasms, also called WEST syndrome, is an idiopathic epileptic encephalopathy caused by multiple causes, usually with onset in the first 3-12 months of life, with peak onset at 5 months of life, characterized by epileptic spasms, the only specific form of seizure, and extensive high-amplitude dysrhythmias on the EEG. Wang Man, Department of Neurology, Shanghai Deji Hospital, is often ineffective in drug treatment, and approximately 60% of children develop refractory epilepsy. Half of the children have permanent motor impairment, and 2/3 have severe cognitive and psychological impairment, with autism and hyperactivity syndrome being the most common. Only 5-12% of children have normal intellectual and motor development.  The ketogenic diet for infantile spasms has been shown to terminate spasticity in 2/3 of patients in a large multinational case-control study, with lower relapse rates and adverse effects than in the ACTH group. It is recommended that children with infantile spasms can be treated with ketogenic diet therapy as early as possible.  In the ketogenic diet therapy unit of Shanghai Deji Hospital, two babies with infantile spasms were treated. One was a girl who was 7 months old at the time of choosing ketogenic diet therapy, with a history of 3 months, and was completely seizure-free after 62 days of ketogenic diet therapy, and the long-range video EEG returned to normal after 8 months of ketogenic recheck.  The other was a boy who was 7 months old at the time of ketogenic diet treatment, with a history of 2 months, and was completely seizure-free after day 5 of ketogenic diet treatment.  In comparison, although the EEGs of these two babies returned to normal after six months of ketogenic diet treatment, the first female baby had a relatively long history before ketogenic treatment and was fully controlled only after 2 months of ketogenic treatment, so she lagged far behind children of the same age in terms of intellectual development. The child slowly learned to chase objects and gradually sat and can now walk with support. The progress of intelligence is more obvious compared with this baby girl.  In summary, for this type of epilepsy, it is recommended to combine medication and ketogenic diet in the early stage of the disease to effectively improve the control rate and reduce the damage caused by seizures to the child.