Probably one of the better known and highly effective non-pharmacological approaches to changing seizure threshold is achieving nutritional ketosis via a ketogenic diet. Which begs the question… what effect does nutritional ketosis have on maintenance of the blood-brain barrier?
From the article:
Scientists have announced a significant advance in our understanding of epilepsy, as they have identified a potential method of preventing damaging seizure activity. Brain cells are nourished by an intricate network of capillaries that forms the so-called blood-brain barrier (BBB). Fundamentally, it is disruption to the integrity of these capillaries and the BBB that a group of scientists believe is a key driver of seizure activity in humans. Promisingly though, their new research shows that restoring that integrity can prevent seizures.
Animal and human evidence:
Importantly, the work was translational in nature and included both basic and clinical research arms involving patients diagnosed with epilepsy. Using similar techniques in humans and in pre-clinical models, the scientists were able to show that BBB disruption was a key driver of seizure activity.