Atkins dangers

Doctors report rare, 'life-threatening complication of Atkins diet'
Last Updated Fri, 17 Mar 2006 16:57:46 EST
CBC News
A 40-year-old woman on the Atkins diet developed a dangerous buildup of acids in her blood, doctors said Friday.

INDEPTH: Diets

Atkins diet favours proteins.
The diet limits the intake of carbohydrates such as bread and pasta and encourages eating protein, including meat and cheese.

In 2004, the obese woman developed a life-threatening complication called ketoacidosis, Dr. Klaus-Dieter Lessnau, a professor at New York University School of Medicine, and his colleagues report in the March 18 issue of the medical journal The Lancet.

Ketoacidosis, caused by excessively high levels of ketones in the blood, can lead to death if untreated. Ketones are produced by the liver from fatty acids, which result from the breakdown of body fat in response to the absence of sugar in low-carb diets.

The woman was following the Atkins diet and took supplements sold by the company. She spent four days in intensive care, the team reported.

"Our patient had an underlying ketosis caused by the Atkins diet and developed severe ketoacidosis," the authors write in their report, titled, "Life-threatening complication of Atkins diet."

Mild pancreatitis or a stomach infection may have contributed to the problem, they added.

In a letter responding to the report, Lyn Steffen and Jennifer Nettleton of the University of Minnesota School of Public Health in Minneapolis concluded: "Low-carbohydrate diets for weight management are far from healthy."

Side-effects can include constipation, diarrhea, headache, bad breath and ketosis. Long-term effects of the diet are unknown, the pair said.

Steffen and Nettleton recommended that doctors keep an eye on people following the diet who may have a wide range of risk factors for disease.

The case is rare and does not represent a health threat linked to low-carb diets, other experts said.

Dr. Robert Atkins developed the low-carb diet based on his research. He died in 2003.