Sleep effects of Ketogenic diet in pediatric patients with migraine: Preliminary data of a prospective study

Abstract

Objective/background: Ketogenic dietary therapies' effects on sleep have been poorly investigated up to date. Preliminary results of a prospective study aimed at evaluating possible sleep changes in pediatric patients with migraine treated with classic ketogenic diet are presented.

Patients/methods: Included patients were aged 14-18 years and had a diagnosis of chronic migraine. A customized classic ketogenic diet was drawn up for all patients and all participants underwent neurological, nutritional and subjective and objective sleep assessment at baseline and after three months of follow-up (standardized sleep questionnaires, polysomnography, actigraphy).

Results: The majority of patients reported an improvement in migraine symptoms and quality of life. As far as sleep effects, a possible sleep stabilization was evidenced according to actigraphic data, and polysomnographic data showed a slight increase in total sleep time and sleep efficiency together with a reduction in waking time during night and a trend of NREM stage 1 decrease and REM increase.

Conclusions: Future analyses on a broader population are needed to shed light on the ketogenic dietary therapies' effects on sleep and future research should be devoted to identify influence of possible individual and diet characteristics, and biochemical related changes.