Idiopathic Epilepsy

Celiac.com 07/31/2021 - Although my theory on the ultimate, underlying cause if idiopathic epilepsy (viruses) is only a theory (backed by mounds of data), the response of epileptic dogs (and people) to the elimination diet I propose is far from theoretical.  It has halted seizures in even the most refractory of cases time and time again.  It has stopped seizures overnight in dogs that were about to be euthanatized by board-certified veterinarians for “non-responsive” epilepsy.  It has eliminated seizures in people with a lifetime of seizures, ranging from children to adults in their 40’s and 50’s, including those with head trauma-induced epilepsy.
 
The response of theses individuals, in addition to the fact that there are more than 24 known viral causes of seizures, has led to my “theory” of chronic latent viruses being the ultimate reasons why one individual has epilepsy and the one next to them does not.  This is no more far-fetched than what we know about cancer...viral information embedded in our very genome that is “unleashed” once the circumstances are correct.  (Once we have done enough wrong to ourselves and our pets, actually.) I guess we could use the term “epileptogens” rather than carcinogens when discussing the things that cause epilepsy to begin between 6 months and 6 years of age, 2-14 years, and then again, after age 65 in people).  Why the delay?  Doesn’t that pattern in people smack of the same things that cause leukemia?  
 
My ultimate “cause” of epilepsy theory is driven by viral agents but the dietary management of these patients is a 6.5 year fact, supported by similar, published, and well-publicized work in human medical research into the ketogenic and now the “modified Atkins” diets.  They are coming close to the real answer, which is my diet, but they are woefully deficient in what they are eliminating.  The step from ketosis (for which NO healthy individual should ever volunteer) to a non-ketotic diet found in the “modified Atkin’s” is a step in the right direction.  Are you familiar with these dietary developments in human medicine, studied extensively at John’s Hopkins and The Mayo Clinic?  I’m sure you must be.  
 
What is it that they are eliminating that is making a difference in 30-50% of individuals to which they apply it?  Why not 60, 70 or 90%.  Why not 100% like we are experiencing.  Yes 100% of patients with idiopathic epilepsy that I have been involved with have had a notable response, the majority of which stopped seizing completely.  100%.  That is a stiff claim, isn’t it?  It’s true, though.  And it is the wellspring of the passion I have for this topic and why I spend my time writing on forums instead of playing golf.
 
Why not speak at ACVIM meetings?  Why not write in peer-reviewed journals?  First, I am a solitary practitioner.  Other than my internship at Angell Memorial, I have no clout.  And believe me when I say that I tried to reach people in high places.  

Academia is an ivory tower that is difficult to approach, especially in human medicine.  Thank God (literally) there are alternatives to simply trying to change the mind of the two professions before any help can be rendered to the masses.  Thank God (again, literally) that the afflicted can now be their own best advocates and find answers on their own.  Thank God for the Internet.  
 
The time has come for medicine to change.  Our blind approach of masking symptoms with drugs has come to an end.  Seizures serve a purpose just like every other symptom that occurs in our body and until we see that, we will never be better at curing disease that we are now, and our success is dismal at this point.  Our limited understanding of nutrition is appalling.  How any educated person can say that diet has nothing to do with epilepsy (or any other medical condition for that matter) is beyond me but that has been the response of almost every board certified vet or practitioner that has been presented with this idea by an interested client...just before their seizures were stopped by changes to the diet.  
 
The “startling” fact is that nutrition has everything to do with our body running on the nutrients it acquires from food.  We don’t get proteins, fats, vitamins, and minerals from air, do we?  Cellular metabolism and enzyme systems don’t run on oxygen alone, do they?  So how could a board-certified doctor, human or veterinary, say that “nutrition has nothing to do with seizures”???  Do you sense my frustration?  I have spent the past 7 years trying to get this word out to colleagues and doctors alike.  My head is bloody from hitting it so hard against that wall.
 
But the progress I have made in the private sector has been astounding.  Now my time has come to share it with the professionals.  If I waited to hear from my or the human medical profession, I would have died waiting.  Google “DogtorJ” and you’ll see where I’ve been (other than car forums).  I spoke at two AHVMA conferences.  I recently spoke at an international conference of MDs.  And I will be speaking at the upcoming NAVC conference in Orlando in January.  Dr. Jean Dodds and I are in total agreement on this approach and correspond very regularly.  I have doctors at both Johns Hopkins and Mayo interested in this work, and the director of integrative medicine at Mayo is trying to get an NIH grant to study it.
 
Maybe this approach has been backwards when viewed from inside the ivory tower, but this is becoming the mode these days.  Most of us are aware of the public’s rising level of dissatisfaction with medical care.  If medicine was a government a revolution would be in the offing.  The doctor jokes are exceeding the lawyer jokes now.  My clients regularly volunteer to me how much they “hate” the medical profession.  I didn’t think I would see that day.  
 
Why are they so vehement about their disdain for “us”?  Simply put, they are waking up.  They see the absurdity of taking fever-reducers for a fever ‘caused by a virus or bacteria because they intuitively know that the fever serves a vital purpose in our healing.  Similarly, they don’t see the logic in treating cancer with more carcinogens.  They don’t understand why you would treat a condition like MS or lupus that results in individuals with weakened immune systems with immunosuppressive drugs.  The scary thing is that these treatments eem to make sense to those who prescribe those “remedies”, just as they did to me for 21 years.  Now that’s a scary and humbling thought.
 It’s time for us all to wake up.  And, it’s time for us to put aside our pompous attitudes, imagining that we know so much when we really understand so little.  Hey, “idiopathic” is our favorite word.  How can we be so smug when we know that this is true?  Even worse, how can we let a word like that shut off our brains when there is a finite number of causes for any disease we care to discuss.  We hold up that word like a banner while casting aside ideas that actually work.
 
I do understand how the system works.  Again, thank God there are alternatives to that system.  Otherwise, conventional (internal) medicine would lead us all into our graves.  Granted, they often squeeze another 15 years out of a human life using drugs, controlling heart disease and the like.  But they have done nothing to halt the incidence of heart disease, immune-mediated diseases, and cancer.  It has simply been a race to determine this year’s number one killer.  It is time to actually prevent and even CURE these conditions.  Our disbelief that this can be done only illustrates how far we have strayed from the proper path of the healing arts.