Keeping an eye out: Lizzy began the diet while she was in hospital, and was medically monitored throughout.
One mother in South Australia claims she saw a vast improvement in her young daughter's seizures that she said were 'consuming their [family's] life', after just 18 months on the controversial ketogenic diet.
Zoe Gow told Daily Mail Australia her daughter Lizzy was diagnosed with the condition at just three years old, and she had watched her child suffer uncontrollable nightly seizures for six years, despite medication.
The Gow family's lives were changed in February 2013, when the mother-of-two sat down to watch First Do No Harm, a TV movie starring Meryl Streep. The film follows the true story of a mother who attempts to cure her son's epilepsy with a ketogenic diet after bad experiences in hospital. 'I remember finishing it crying my eyes out and realising we had to find out if we could give it a go,' Mrs Gow said.
After much research, she contacted the Austin Hospital in Melbourne, where Lizzy had been treated before, and asked if the diet was an option for her child. At that point, the then-eight-year-old had been suffering hallucinatory seizures at least once a night.
Comment: For more information on why and how it works, see:
Ketogenic diet: Role in epilepsy and beyond
The Ketogenic Diet - An overview