A ketogenic diet may help individuals with multiple sclerosis (MS) improve their quality of life, fatigue, and depression, according to recent research.

Ketogenic diets, which are high in fat and low in carbohydrates, resemble a fasting state and encourage more efficient energy usage — and have previously been found to impact immunological modulation. The diet lowers blood sugar in those with type 2 diabetes and has been used for years to help patients with epilepsy control seizures, according to the researchers.

The ketogenic diet was followed for 6 months by 65 patients with relapse MS in an open-label, uncontrolled research. Daily urine ketone testing was used to track adherence.

At baseline, fasting adipokines and relevant MS-related clinical outcome metrics were collected, as well as patient-reported fatigue, depression, and quality-of-life scores. While on the ketogenic diet, baseline study measures were repeated at 3 and 6 months. The ketogenic diet was followed by 83 percent of the patients during the whole 6-month research period.
The findings will be presented at the 2022 Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Neurology (AAN) in April.
Source - Medscape Medical News