By Bethany Whittingham,Tianna Corbin
Copyright walesonline
Actress Gemma Atkinson, who is known for her role on Emmerdale, has disclosed that her six-year-old daughter, Mia, has been diagnosed with epilepsy following absence seizures. The TV star who has two children with Strictly Come Dancing professional Gorka Marquez, who recently announced a career move. Gemma shared on her Just As Well, The Women’s Health podcast, that their eldest child was experiencing episodes of lost awareness and spacing out. Consequently, she is now undergoing epilepsy treatment. Epilepsy is a neurological condition that triggers seizures and, whilst incurable, treatment options are available to help patients manage symptoms and the condition itself. Absence seizures represent one form of seizure where individuals lose consciousness of their surroundings. She told her listeners: “My daughter is under treatment for epilepsy. She has the absence seizures, she doesn’t fit or anything, it’s just a stare out and they’ve got so much better a year in.” The devoted mother confessed to falling into a research “rabbit hole” following her daughter’s diagnosis. She continued: “When I was told that I was like, ‘Right, I need to research, research, research,’ and I went down a rabbit hole.” Medical professionals suggested implementing a ketogenic diet for Mia to help manage her condition, reports the Express . The former Hollyoaks star revealed: “The keto diet was designed for patients with epilepsy because it re-wires their brain function. The doctor told me, ‘If you can get her on a keto diet, it could help with brain function’. “The improvement that we’ve had, I mean, we’re constantly monitoring, but the last six months she’s had none, touch wood.” Gemma also discussed the origins of the ketogenic diet and its initial use as an epilepsy treatment. She revealed it was first discovered in the 1930s, though the physician who pioneered it tragically lost all his research when his notes were destroyed in a fire, delaying progress by years. She continued: “It was given to epilepsy patients back in the day, in the 1930s, it was discovered, and it really helped all of the symptoms, and everything went down. “But then the doctor who discovered this, his hospital miraculously got burnt down, with all the research and everything.” The television personality first encountered her fiancé, Gorka, during her stint on the BBC dance competition in 2017. During the programme, she was paired with Aljaz Skorjanec, with the dancing partnership successfully reaching the final alongside Gorka and his celebrity partner, Alexandra Burke. Gemma has since returned to perform on the Strictly Christmas Special with her partner. The couple, who got engaged in February 2021, have disclosed their plans to delay their wedding until their son is a bit older.
