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Efficacy of low glycemic index treatment in epileptic patients: a systematic review

Acta Neurologica Belgica volume 118, pages 339–349 (2018)Cite this article

Abstract

Low glycemic index treatment (LGIT) is one of the new kinds of ketogenic diet (KD), designed to simplify the implementation of the KD. To date, several studies have attempted to determine the efficacy of LGIT in patients with epilepsy; however, their results are debatable. This study aims to retrieve all the LGIT studies to shed light on LGIT efficacy in epileptic patients. Electronic literature databases including MEDLINE/PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, EMBASE were searched in July 2017. Interventional or observational studies exploring the efficacy of LGIT were included in the study. The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute quality assessment tool was used for the quality assessment of included studies. Two hundred and eighteen records were retrieved through a literature search. Following the screening process, eight studies were included. According to the ratings of the quality assessment tool, four studies were classified as good and four were categorized as fair. The result of the current study reveals that LGIT has a beneficial effect in patients with intractable epilepsy. However, more high-quality studies are required to determine the efficacy of LGIT in patients with intractable epilepsy.

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Acknowledgements

This research has been supported by Tehran University of Medical Sciences (Grant no: 96-03-61-35984).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Cellular and Molecular Nutrition, School of Nutritional Sciences and Dietetics, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, 14155-6447, Iran

    Shahabeddin Rezaei, Mona Kavoosi & Maryam Mahmoudi

  2. Students’ Scientific Research Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

    Shahabeddin Rezaei & Sara Harsini

  3. Network of Immunity in Infection, Malignancy and Autoimmunity (NIIMA), Universal Scientific Education and Research Network (USERN), Tehran, Iran

    Sara Harsini

  4. Department of Paediatric Neurology, Paediatrics Centre of Excellence, Children’s Medical Centre, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

    Reza Shervin Badv

  5. Pediatric Gastroenterology and Hepatology Research Center, Children’s Medical Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

    Maryam Mahmoudi

  6. Dietitians and Nutrition Experts Team (DiNET), Universal Scientific Education and Research Network (USERN), Tehran, Iran

    Maryam Mahmoudi

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  1. Shahabeddin Rezaei
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  2. Sara Harsini
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  5. Maryam Mahmoudi
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Correspondence to Maryam Mahmoudi.

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Rezaei, S., Harsini, S., Kavoosi, M. et al. Efficacy of low glycemic index treatment in epileptic patients: a systematic review. Acta Neurol Belg 118, 339–349 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13760-018-0881-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13760-018-0881-4

Keywords

  • Epilepsy
  • Ketogenic diet
  • Low glycemic index diet