Thiamine deficiency in infancy and epilepsy in seven children
What it found
Seven children who lacked thiamine as babies developed severe epilepsy that was hard to control.
All had lasting brain and movement problems five years later.
What they found
Studies in people
Seizures in infancy
All 7 babies had seizures when first seen by doctors. Six had electrical brain readings taken, and all showed slow background activity.
Seizures returned later
After 1 to 9 months without seizures, they came back in all 7 children. Electrical brain readings showed abnormal spikes in every child.
Hard to treat
Most seizure medicines did not work for these children. Four of the 7 still have seizures that cannot be controlled.
Lasting disabilities
All 7 children have learning difficulties and problems with movement. They also show signs of issues in the lower part of the brain.
What the authors conclude
- Their findings suggest that a severe lack of thiamine in infancy can lead to epilepsy.
How it was done
The authors wanted to track the long-term outcomes of children who developed severe epilepsy after lacking thiamine as infants. The lack of thiamine came from a faulty soy-based formula.
They reviewed the medical records of 7 children, now aged 5 to 6 years old. These children had all lacked thiamine as babies and developed epilepsy. The team looked at their brain scans, electrical brain readings, and health over about 5 years.
What it can’t tell you
- We summarised it from the abstract only.
- This report follows a small group of children over time, so it can only show a link between early thiamine shortage and later epilepsy. It cannot prove that the shortage alone caused every problem seen years later.
Who paid
- Authors work at
- Dana Children's Hospital, Israel
The paper
- Title
- Epilepsy in children with infantile thiamine deficiency
- Type
- Study
- Evidence
- Studies in people
- Summarised from
- Abstract only
- Cite
- Fattal-Valevski A, Bloch-Mimouni A, Kivity S, et al (2009). Epilepsy in children with infantile thiamine deficiency. Neurology. doi:10.1212/WNL.0b013e3181b121f5PubMed 19571254DOI
Summary written 30 Sep 2026. Check it against the paper before it changes what you eat. How we summarise papers · Report an error