If anti-epileptic drugs dont work, are there other options?
Yes, for some there is surgery and for children, dietary therapy known as the ketogenic diet. According to Wikipedia, the ketogenic diet is a high-fat, adequate-protein, low-carbohydrate diet primarily used to treat difficult-to-control epilepsy in children. The diet mimics aspects of starvation by forcing the body to burn fats rather than carbohydrates. Normally, the carbohydrates contained in food are converted into glucose, which is then transported around the body and is particularly important in fuelling brain function. However, if there are very little carbohydrates in the diet, the liver converts fat into fatty acids and ketone bodies. The ketone bodies pass into the brain and replace glucose as an energy source. An elevated level of ketone bodies in the blood, a state known as ketosis (like the Atkins diet), leads to a reduction in the frequency of epileptic seizures.
