Experimental: ketogenic diet for Epilepsy (KD Trial)

The purpose of the study is to obtain pilot data on safety and efficacy of ketogenic diet (KD) as adjunctive treatment of adults with refractory epilepsy. This will be an open label study comparing seizure frequency during 4 months of prospective baseline observation period with seizure frequency during 4 months of add-on KD treatment. 18-65 year old men and women with refractory epilepsy, defined as seizures persisting in spite of past/present treatments with ≥ 3 AEDs, with seizure frequency of ≥ 0.5/month, will be evaluated. Subjects with both primary generalized and localization-related epilepsy (PGE, LRE) will be recruited. Subjects will have had epilepsy for at least 2 years prior to enrollment. Following initial screening, subjects will be observed for 4 months, with no change in AEDs except when deemed necessary by the patient's neurologist according to standard clinical care. Patients will then start ketogenic diet. Evaluations will include seizure frequency using a seizure diary, adverse events, treatment compliance using urine and plasma ketone levels. Quality of life will be evaluated with a standardized questionnaire of Quality Of Life In patients with Epilepsy, QOLIE-31-P. Level of alertness will be evaluated with Epworth Sleepiness Scale. These questionnaires will be administered at each visit.