Each day, stations potassium citrate for kidney stones in the entry of patients to high-fat regime

Children in High-fat ketogenic diet to control seizures may prevent great suffering painful kidney stones, the diet can sometimes, if a daily supplement of potassium citrate day of food, the search for the Johns Hopkins Children's Center.

A report on the work is in the August edition of Pediatrics.

"We can say that it's safe and effective to prevent kidney stones, and should be in the standard treatment in all the ketogenic diet, and not only those who have already increased calcium in 'urine, "says Senior Investigator Eric Kossoff, MD, a pediatric neurologist on Hopkins Children's. "If you wait, it's too late."

The ketogenic diet, as the start of biochemical changes, the elimination of seizure short circuit trigger signal in the brain of the system is, for many children, including crises on medication. But food, high fat food with very little carbohydrates, leads to development of calcium in the urine and the formation of kidney stones in about 6% of respondents.

Hopkins Children's, the preventive treatment of potassium citrate, two years ago, and doctors believe that now is an important side effect of the scheme is a thing of the past, so that children remain on for more nutrition.

Potassium citrate, twice a day, either in powder form injected into the food or in water, is believed to inhibit the formation of stone.

In their study of 301 children with epilepsy treated ketogenic diet for Hopkins Children's researchers discovered that people who have potassium citrate twice a day, seven times less for the development of kidney stones - one of 106 (0.9% ) developed a kidney stone compared to 13 out of 195 (6.7%), potassium citrate in the light of a positive consideration to the increase of blood calcium. Most children have a pack of 30 milliequivalents (about 1170 mg or 0.04 ounces of potassium citrate twice a day.

Although rarely severe, kidney stones pain can be intense, with kidney and urinary tract infections, and may require surgery.