dl-GLUTAMIC ACID HYDROCHLORIDE IN TREATMENT OF PETIT MAL AND PSYCHOMOTOR SEIZURES

In the majority of cases the treatment of epilepsy is moderately satisfactory. 1 Grand mal attacks are controlled completely or reduced in frequency by phenytoin or phenytoin-phenobarbital combinations in the majority of cases. Psychomotor attacks yield less readily to anticonvulsant therapy. Petit mal attacks are infrequently affected by medication but respond favorably to fasting 2 and the ketogenic diet. 3 The hypothesis advanced by Wilder 3 and supported by Keith's experiments 4 that the mechanism of the ketogenic diet depended on the sedative effect of the ketone bodies was not generally accepted. Fay 5 and McQuarrie 6 attributed the effect to dehydration incidental to ketosis. Bridge and lob 7 were doubtful that either to acidosis or to ketosis alone could be ascribed anticonvulsant properties. Maintenance of a dietary regimen that will produce ketonuria is not a simple task. Hospitalization and an intensive educational program for the patient and his parents