Abstract
Recent data has suggested a definitive role for inflammatory processes in the pathophysiology of epilepsy. In this study we hypothesized that food allergies, as chronic inflammatory processes, underlie the pathophysiology of refractory idiopathic epilepsy and investigated whether food elimination diets may assist in managing refractory epilepsy. The study was conducted on 34 patients up to 16 years of age with refractory convulsions who attended the Allergy Outpatient Clinic, Mofid Children Hospital between 2015 and 2016 with youngest and oldest participants at ages of 3 months and 16 years old, respectively. The participants were categorized into three groups according to the results of skin prick test and serum specific IgE measurements. Elimination diets were instituted for the patients with non IgE-mediated and mixed food allergies. The study was conducted for a period of 12 weeks. The participants were assessed for at least 50% reduction in number of seizures following the intervention. There was a significant reduction in number of seizures (p < 0.001) following the intervention. Seventeen patients (50%) did not experience any seizures after 8 weeks of treatment and 12 patients (35%) had a significant (51–99%) decrease in the number of their seizures. Five patients did not show any changes in their daily seizure frequency. The obtained data suggest that food allergy may play a role in triggering refractory epilepsies and their adequate response to treatment. A trial of elimination diet showed more than 50% seizure reduction in more than 85% of the children studied. However, we believe these results are preliminary and they motivate a fully controlled study in the future.
Highlights
Food allergy is a serious health problem affecting up to 8% of children and increasingly capturing the attention as a modern-day epidemic with poorly understood drivers[1]
There is accumulating evidence that inflammatory processes contribute to pathophysiology of refractory seizures[6]
The idea of the role of food allergy in inducing epilepsy is referred to Ward and Patterson in 1927, who performed skin prick test for food allergens on 1000 epileptic individuals and 100 healthy controls and found that 37–67% of patients revealed wheal and flare reactions indicative of prior sensitivity while only 8% of the healthy control group showed positive
Summary
Food allergy is a serious health problem affecting up to 8% of children and increasingly capturing the attention as a modern-day epidemic with poorly understood drivers[1]. In 2001, Frediani et al evaluated 72 epileptic children and 202 healthy control, age-matched individuals with their families. They found higher rates of cow’s milk allergy and asthma in epileptic children and dermatitis and rhinitis in their mothers and their siblings, respectively[9]. Thinking of food allergy as a seizure trigger is rather a novel idea and confirmation of this relationship may be difficult Once confirmed it may break a new ground in treatment of refractory convulsions in paediatric age group. We hypothesized that inflammatory process (involving gut) is an underlying cause in some cases of refractory epilepsy[13,14,15,16] and investigated whether a significant relationship exists between these intractable seizures and food allergy
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
