Atkins Diet for Difficult-to-Control Headaches in Teenagers

Use of the Atkins Diet for Adolescents With Chronic Daily Headache.

Status

Completed

Phases

Phase 1

Study type

Interventional

Source

ClinicalTrials.gov

Registry ID

NCT00181064

Enrollment

Registered

2005-09-16

Start date

2005-09-30

Completion date

2009-06-30

Last updated

2009-07-02

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Chronic Daily Headache

Keywords

headache, Atkins, ketosis, intractable

Brief summary

This is a 3-month pilot study of 10 adolescents with chronic daily headache. Teens will be placed on a modified Atkins diet and followed with 2 subsequent visits to assess for headache improvement.

Detailed description

Patients are placed on the diet and followed with various measures for 3 months. If the diet is helpful it is continued. Patients are still being enrolled as of 9/6/06.

Interventions

BEHAVIORALModified Atkins diet

15 grams of carbohydrates per day - high fat diet

Study design

Allocation

NON_RANDOMIZED

Intervention model

SINGLE_GROUP

Primary purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

NONE

Eligibility

Sex/Gender

ALL

Age

12 Years to 19 Years

Healthy volunteers

Inclusion criteria

* Ages 12-19 * Minimum 15 headaches/month for at least 3 months * Tried 2 preventative medications previously

Exclusion criteria

* Prior use of the Atkins diet for more than 1 week * Pregnancy * Significant heart or kidney disease * Dangerously underweight * Using acute pain medications more than 11 days in the past month * Medications being changed

Design outcomes

Primary

Measure	Time frame
Headaches	3 months

Secondary

Measure	Time frame
Ketosis	3 months
Diet duration	as long as tolerated
Quality of life (PedsMIDAS)	3 months

Countries

United States

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Feb 4, 2026