re: RFK- keto diet as cure for schizophrenia

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onmymedicalgrind

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Probably doesn’t know dick about nutrition, but sure as hell could write you a prescription for something that kills you.

Dubrovnik is my favorite European city. Going back in August.

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but sure as hell could write you a prescription for something that kills you.

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Maybe not kill you, but definitely leads to return visits for continued evaluation.

That’s a feature, not a bug.

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Have you looked at the study?

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Yes I just read it in its entirety.

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Patient A is an 82 year-old female diagnosed with schizophrenia since the age of seventeen. Her symptoms included chronic paranoia, disorganized speech, and both visual and auditory hallucinations- seeing skeletons and hearing voices on a daily basis. She had numerous hospitalizations throughout her life for psychosis and suicide attempts. Prior to 2008, she had trials of the following antipsychotic and mood stabilizing medications: lithium, olanzapine, ziprasidone, aripiprazole, lamotrigine, quetiapine, haloperidol, perphenazine, and risperidone. In 2008, just prior to starting the ketogenic diet, she was on haldol-decanoate, risperidone, atenolol, furosemide, trazodone, and sertraline. She was 70 years old, receiving social security, had a visiting PACT team and a court-appointed guardian. She started a ketogenic diet in order to lose weight (weighing 330 lb). Within two weeks, she noted a marked reduction in her psychotic symptoms. Over the next several months, she took it upon herself to stop all of her medications. Her mood improved dramatically, and she no longer had suicidal thoughts. Her hallucinations and paranoia remitted completely. She remains on the ketogenic diet today and has lost a total of 150 lb. She takes no medications and remains free of psychotic symptoms, and has also regained her independence, no longer requiring the care of a PACT team and no longer having a guardian. She lives independently, and reports that she is happy to be alive.

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This case is interesting. However a very brief google search show that the results have not been replicated in others yet. So it is interesting and I would love to find out more information about her and see her studied but nothing of significance can be drawn from what is stated in the study about her.

The second case is more realistic.

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Patient B is a 39 year old female with a history of depression, anxiety, anorexia nervosa, and hallucinations and paranoia beginning in 1993. She initially did not disclose the psychotic symptoms to treaters, but was hospitalized and treated for depression, suicide attempts, and anorexia several times. In 2003, after finally disclosing the hallucinations and paranoia, she was diagnosed with schizophrenia. She tried the following medications over the course of treatment: haloperidol, clozapine, ziprasidone, risperidone, quetiapine, aripiprazole, olanzapine, sertraline, paroxetine, citalopram, fluoxetine, duloxetine, and venlafaxine. Her psychotic and mood symptoms persisted despite these medication trials. In 2013, she was started on a ketogenic diet by a functional medicine practitioner for symptoms of chronic GI distress. Shortly after starting the diet, she abruptly stopped the 14 medications she was taking, and became severely psychotic, was hospitalized, but continued the ketogenic diet while in the hospital. She was started on haldol-decanoate and continued the ketogenic diet. Within one month, she reported complete resolution of her psychotic symptoms for the first time since 1993, despite having tried haldol-decanoate in the past without a treatment response. She was tapered off haldol-decanoate over the following year, and has remained free of psychotic symptoms for the past 5 years off of antipsychotic medications. She lost 70 lb after starting the diet, exacerbating her anorexia, but regained 30 of those pounds for a normal body weight currently. She continues the ketogenic diet, and since her symptoms remitted, she has finished graduate school and now works full time.

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First of all the patient did not have schizophrenia. She started on keto diet and stops her meds and she has to be hospitalized. Even though she later improves and goes into remission without meds the fact that she has a psychotic break after starting the keto diet shows that it may be an effective treatment it is no cure.

Oh and here is the end of your study.

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These cases suggest that the ketogenic diet may be an effective treatment for schizophrenia, capable of inducing remission of longstanding psychotic symptoms off antipsychotic medications, and restoring function in life. Both patients also lost weight. Randomized controlled trials are warranted to establish the safety and efficacy of the ketogenic diet for psychotic disorders.

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Keto diet may be an effective treatment but 2 case studies is not enough to say that it is a cure or even a stand alone treatment. You or RFK or anyone saying that keto is a cure or better than current therapy are making claims that are not backed up by evidence. Also in both studies the patients were tapered off of antipsychotics after symptom resolution which is something that is normally done once symptom resolution is achieved. So that also kind of shoots a hole in the argument that doctors are in the pocket of big pharma and just trying to keep people sick.

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Sorry, but I'll give him the benefit of the doubt here.

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Imagine giving RFK the benefit of the doubt lmao. You must have a smooth brain.

Post a picture of your diploma so we can gauge the quality of your education.

Ban bet you were educated either in the Caribbean or at some third rate medical school with an average MCAT acceptance score of 500.

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Maybe not kill you, but definitely leads to return visits for continued evaluation.

That’s a feature, not a bug.

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I see my average patient 4 times. On that 4th visit, I tell them to call me if they need me. Rarely see them after that.

Yet, for some reason, I still have a steady stream of patients. How could that be?!

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WeeWee

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You have more patience than I do. The smooth brains are not going to intelligently engage with your analysis of the literature. They frankly can't.

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First of all the patient did not have schizophrenia. She started on keto diet and stops her meds and she has to be hospitalized. Even though she later improves and goes into remission without meds the fact that she has a psychotic break after starting the keto diet shows that it may be an effective treatment it is no cure.

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In both the cases you posted... both patients were diagnosed with schizophrenia. Both patients went keto, both patients were able to go off meds and remain off meds successfully.

Is this in dispute for the two patients?

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WeeWee

You have more patience than I do. The smooth brains are not going to intelligently engage with your analysis of the literature. They frankly can't.

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Honestly I am surprised they actually posted a link to published study. The least I could do would be to read it and break it down.