Susan Wood
Since graduating from Surrey University in 1982, with an honours degree in Human Nutrition & Dietetics, I worked as a registered dietitian in the NHS for most of the intervening 38 years, treating a wide range of paediatric and adult conditions.
Although my degree dissertation back in 1982 had focussed on ketogenic diets, my interest in their real life clinical application didn’t began until 2008 when a young adult with drug resistant epilepsy was referred for a Modified Atkins Diet by his consultant neurologist. This first clinical experience, though an experimental journey for all concerned , was a real eye opener and made me realise that ketogenic therapy could really make a difference to an adult with drug resistant epilepsy. The information and support I accessed via the Matthews Friends international network and the UK Ketogenic Professional Advisory Group ( paediatric focussed) was invaluable when I was starting out and led to my increasing focus on ketogenic therapies. In 2009 I started to work alongside the Matthew’s Friends Charity, offering support to adults and their neurology teams seeking treatment, then in 2011 I joined the newly formed clinical team at the Matthew’s Friends Centre for Ketogenic Dietary Therapies. Beyond working directly with both children and adults, I love to support interested dietitians and doctors, keen to provide KDT to their adult patients. My role enables me to deliver this via KetoCollege and also mentor individual teams too. I have recently co-authored reports on the brain tumour patient experience of the use of KDT1 and the first international recommendations for the management of adults treated with ketogenic diet therapies 2.
Interest in ketogenic diets and the broad metabolic ‘shift’ they create has increased exponentially in recent years, both in the public and research sectors associated with an extensive range of medical conditions. Despite being around for a century, ketogenic diet therapies still remain poorly understood and underexplored. From the plate to the petri dish, we need more keto – knowledge and understanding.
1 The Brain Tumour Patient Experience of Ketogenic Diet Therapy. Susan Wood & Catherine Zabilowicz. http://neurodigest.co.uk/index.php/2019/12/22/the-brain-tumour-patient-experience-of-ketogenic-diet-therapy/
2 International Recommendations for the Management of Adults Treated with Ketogenic Diet Therapies https://cp.neurology.org/content/early/2020/10/28/CPJ.0000000000001007