“Let thy food be thy medicine, and thy medicine be thy food.” » In an age where medical treatments are largely dominated by prescription drugs that kill more than 100,000 people each year, perhaps it is time to follow the advice of Hippocrates, who understood the medicinal power of food. One of the most well-known dietary treatment plans is the ketogenic diet, which has been implemented for almost a century to treat children and adolescents with intractable epilepsy. Epilepsy is a neurological disorder characterized by recurrent, unprovoked seizures. It is estimated that more than two million people in the United States currently have epilepsy, and many of these cases occur during the infancy and childhood years. For many people with epilepsy, antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) are enough to control seizures. However, many patients taking AEDs experience serious side effects, and for others, the medications have very little effect on controlling seizures. For children who fall into this category, the ketogenic diet may be an interesting alternative. The ketogenic diet is a high-fat, low-carbohydrate diet that has an anticonvulsant effect in many children and adolescents with epilepsy. Typically, the body breaks down carbohydrates into glucose, which is then used to fuel our body's cellular respiration. When the body lacks sufficient glucose to meet its energy needs, fatty acids in the mitochondria of liver cells undergo beta-oxidation, during which they are broken down into acetyl-CoA molecules. Through a series of reactions called ketogenesis, acetyl CoA is converted into ketone bodies, high-energy molecules that have a unique ability to cross the mitochondrial membrane and blood-brain barrier, making it a good source. .... middle of paper ...... one highly charged sodium ion out of the neuron for every two positively charged potassium ions in the cell, thus resulting in a net change in the charge inside the neuron of -1 for each enzyme pump. Since the pump transports ions against their concentration gradient to return the neuron to its resting potential, the pump requires ATP. Without the ATP needed to repolarize the neuron, the membrane potential cannot return to its stabilized state. Increased levels of phosphocreatine and glutamate allow increased ATP production in the mitochondria of neurons. One of the functions of ATP is to power the sodium-potassium pumps that stabilize the membrane potential of neurons. By stabilizing this membrane potential, neurons can maintain ionic level homeostasis for a longer period, thereby improving the resistance of neurons to metabolic stress...