Intractable epilepsy tied to nutritional deficits

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - The nutrient levels in young children with poorly controlled seizure disorders is often below the recommended levels, researchers report.

Growth problems have been reported in children with epilepsy and poor nutrition may be a factor, especially in children with intractable epilepsy.

To further investigate, Dr. Stella L. Volpe, at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, and colleagues conducted a nutritional analysis comparing 43 children with intractable epilepsy with 1,718 healthy children between 1 and 8 years of age. The subjects were part of the National Health and Nutritional Examination Survey (NHANES) between 2001 and 2002.

Intractable epilepsy was defined as one or more seizures every month, despite treatment with at least three antiepileptic drugs. The average age of the children was 4.7 years.

The investigators divided the children into two age groups -- between 1.0 and 3.9 years of age, and between 4.0 and 8.9 years of age -- to correspond with Dietary Reference Intakes.

As reported in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association, children with epilepsy ate statistically significant lower levels of total calories, protein, carbohydrates, fat, dietary fiber, and multiple vitamins and minerals, compared with healthy children.

The team found that 30 percent of the children with seizures had lower-than-recommended intakes of vitamins D, E and K, folate, calcium, linoleic acid and alpha-linoleic acid. The younger children had lower levels of micronutrients than the older children.

Volpe and colleagues write that their study "suggests that health care professionals caring for children with intractable epilepsy should be aware of this pattern of decreased nutrient intake and educate families to provide an adequate diet and/or consider vitamin/mineral supplementation."

SOURCE: Journal of the American Dietetic Association, June 2007.