RE: [CR] Atkins diet kills a girl

[Guest guest]

Hi All from both lists, This just came through from the below, and I

attached the abstract and can send the whole PDF but could not copy from it

to you. The conclusion:

" We continue to suggest moderate caloric restriction with balance

macronutrient and micronutrient intake and increased physical activity under

a physician's guidance. "

Cheers, Al.

> -----Original Message-----> From: crdude35768@...

> Sent: Saturday, November 02, 2002 12:18 PM

> crsociety@... Teen Dies After Following

High-Protein Diet

Thu Oct 31, 1:50 PM ET

By Dana Frisch

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Missouri doctors describe the case of an

apparently healthy 16-year-old girl who collapsed suddenly and died after

spending one to two weeks on a high-protein, low-carbohydrate diet.

Electrolyte imbalances due to the diet, and the resulting damage to her

heart function, were likely responsible, the physicians who cared for her

report in a recent issue of the Southern Medical Journal. The girl had no

known illnesses or medical conditions.

The teen had low potassium and calcium levels when she arrived at the

University of Missouri Health Sciences Center, most likely as a consequence

of the diet, the doctors state in their report. This disrupted the normal

electrical function of her heart, leading it to stop and causing her to

collapse, they write.

Dietitians and proponents of the Atkins diet, one example of a

low-carbohydrate/high-protein diet, say that other weight-loss measures

including eating disorders like bulimia or the use of diuretics were far

more likely to have contributed to the low electrolyte levels found in the

teen's blood.

Dr. D. , a co-author of the paper, said in an interview that

while there might be other explanations for the teen's death, including an

abnormal heart rhythm, interviews with her parents did not suggest that she

had a history of bulimia or diuretic use. is an assistant professor

of child health in the division of adolescent medicine at the University of

Missouri, Columbia.

" Most kids with eating disorders, even if they're able to hide the bulimia,

they're constantly talking about being fat or needing to lose weight and

exercise, " said. " My indication, from what I understand of the

interview with this girl's family, is that none of these things were the

case. "

Colette Heimowitz, director of education and research at Atkins Health and

Medical Information Services, told Reuters Health that the Atkins approach

has been used by millions of Americans for 30 years now, and there have been

no documented cases of serious reactions or fatalities.

" The actual dietary approaches or practices that this particular teenager

followed for days or weeks couldn't possibly account for what (the

physicians are) attributing it to, " said Heimowitz. She noted that the

irregular chemical levels detected during the autopsy could be associated

with drugs emergency medical personnel and doctors administered to

resuscitate the teen, or with other weight-loss efforts.

disagrees. " I don't think there is any way the resuscitative drugs

would have affected (the teen's electrolytic balance), " he said, noting that

when the teen came in, she had low potassium levels.

Very high-protein/low-carbohydrate diets result in a condition called

ketosis. In ketosis, the body has used up its preferred fuel reserves,

glycogen derived from carbohydrates, and instead burns fat. This generates

substances called ketone bodies, which can be smelled in the breath.

Wahida Karmally, a spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association, told

Reuters Health that these diets can cause muscle breakdown, weakness, nausea

and dehydration. They limit the intake of entire categories of food that

provide certain nutrients, such as potassium, she explained. " These effects

can happen right away, " she said.

" It is a worrying set of circumstances when kids die suddenly, "

said. " The whole point of writing the paper is to ask clinicians to keep

their eyes open. If kids come in with sudden death and they're on this kind

of diet, we really have to start paying more attention to it. "

SOURCE: Southern Medical Journal 2002;95:1047-1049.

[Guest guest]

Oops.

Hi All from both lists, This just came through from the below, and I

attached the abstract and can send the whole PDF but could not copy from it

to you. The conclusion:

" We continue to suggest moderate caloric restriction with balance

macronutrient and micronutrient intake and increased physical activity under

a physician's guidance. "

Cheers, Al.

South Med J 2002 Sep;95(9):1047-9

Sudden cardiac death of an adolescent during dieting.

s A, DP, Turpin J, Groshong T, Tobias JD.

We describe a 16-year-old girl who had sudden onset of cardiorespiratory arrest

while at school. She had recently attempted weight loss using a

low-carbohydrate/high-protein, calorie-restricted dietary regimen that she had

initiated on her own. During resuscitation, severe hypokalemia was noted. At

postmortem examination, no other causes for the cardiac arrest were identified.

Toxicologic findings were negative. The potential role of the dietary regimen as

a contributing factor to the hypokalemia and subsequent cardiac arrest are

discussed.

PMID: 12356106 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]