Ketogenic Dieting

KDDP is a prospective, 12-month pilot study comparing the effects of a novel lifestyle program, the Ketogenic Diet and Diabetes Demonstration Project (KDDP) to those of the National Diabetes Prevention Program (NDDP). KDDP is modeled to mimic the delivery platform of NDPP with the exception that participants in KDDP will be placed on a medically-supervised ketogenic diet, and participants in NDPP will be placed on a low fat diet. The purpose of this study is to compare the metabolic effects of the KDDP and the NDPP on glycemic control, lipid parameters, blood pressure, heart rate, weight, and coronary artery calcium scores in individuals with either type 2 diabetes or prediabetes.

The ketogenic diet is a medical therapy for epilepsy that is used nearly predominantly for refractory epilepsy (after 2-3 drugs have been tried and failed). However, there is both published evidence for first-line use (infantile spasms, Glut1 deficiency syndrome) and also anecdotal experience (families choosing to change the child's (or the family' own) diet rather than use anticonvulsant medications). Childhood absence epilepsy (refractory) has been published as being responsive to ketogenic diet therapy by the investigators' group previously. This is a small, prospective, 3 month trial to assess if using a modified Atkins diet is a feasible and effective option for new-onset childhood absence epilepsy. The investigators will compare to a group of children in which the parents have declined and chose to start anticonvulsant medications.

Lymphedema is a debilitating disorder that severely impairs the quality of life of the patients and requires life-long attention. Treatment for lymphatic dysfunction remains largely symptomatic, without real cure. According to the International Society of Lymphology, lymphedema has to be treated with Decongestive Lymphatic Therapy. Research in the lab of Angiogenesis and Vascular Metabolism (PCA lab) reported in mice that metabolism of endothelial cells controls vessel sprouting. Experiments showed that a ketogenic diet (KD) reduced the edema of the mice tail and enhanced the lymphatic transport. Based on these proof-of-concept data, the investigators plan to test this innovative concept to ameliorate lymph vessel dysfunction in lymphedema patients. Randomisation will be performed between a ketogenic diet and an isocaloric diet with and without ketone ester supplementation.

The goal of this randomized clinical trial is to be adequately powered to evaluate the effect of ketogenic metabolic therapy on the quality of life in serious mental illness, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, major depressive disorder.

Standard dietary regiments for bariatric are advised prior to surgery. The most used diet is a very low calorie diet (VLCD). These diets potentially have multiple pittfalls. Very low-calorie ketogenic diets (VLCKD) have been proposed as a new regimen for achieving weight- and liver volume loss in patients undergoing bariatric surgery. The beneficial effect of VLCKDs compared to (V)LCDs is the aimed preservation of FFM and RMR, while still reducing FM. Only a few small studies addressed the role of VLCKDs prior to bariatric surgery, and the data including FFM and FM is actually scarce. Therefore, a well-designed randomised controlled trial is necessary to establish the efficacy of a VLCKD.

Postoperative delirium is a common problem of the critically ill patient and associated with an increased mortality. Intermittent fasting and ketogenesis have been shown to be beneficial for maintaining a circadian rhythm and initiating anti-inflammatory repair mechanisms which could potentially be neuroprotective. However, so far there is little data if cyclic enteral feeding with ketogenic nighttime fasting might be beneficial for reducing the rate of postoperative delirium. The study hypothesis is that equicaloric cyclic enteral feeding (12 hrs) during daytime with ketogenic fasting and exogenous ketone supplementation at nighttime compared to continuous standard enteral nutrition (24 hours) decreases the incidence of postoperative delirium in critically ill patients.

This is a multicenter, prospective, observational, longitudinal study designed to describe the therapeutic value of the KetoCal® range in the maintenance of a ketogenic diet during the management of infants (from 5 months) and children up to 17 years of age (i.e. 18 years minus 1 day) with drug-resistant epilepsy. This study is being conducted according to standard medical practice. No change in diagnostic or therapeutic management habits is imposed by this study. Quality of life questionnaires are the only additional procedures for this research.

The goal of this clinical trial is to evaluate the effectiveness of ketogenic diet in patients with MELAS syndrome. The main questions it aims to answer are: Clarify the curative effects of ketogenic diet in the treatment of MELAS disease. Prevent the aggravation of MELAS disease, and improve the quality of life of patients. Provide reliable evidence-based medical basis for the clinical application of ketogenic diet in the treatment of MELAS syndrome patients. The clinical data of the participants treated with ketogenic diet will be collected, including the completion of ketogenic diet and clinical data at the start of treatment and after 1 month, 3 months, 6 months and 12 months