Gemma Atkinson on daughter's 'scary' diagnosis as she shares timeline

Gemma Atkinson has shared further details on her daughterMia's 'scary' epilepsy diagnosis after she started suffering from absence seizures. The TV presenter and former actress has two children with Strictly Come Dancing pro Gorka Marquez. Mia is their eldest, and has a younger brother called Thiago.

She recently revealed on her Just As Well, The Women's Health Podcast that her daughter was experiencing loss of awareness and zoning out. As a result she is now receiving treatment for epilepsy. Epilepsy is a condition where your brain is affected and causes seizures. It is incurable but treatment is offered to help manage it.

One type of seizure is an absence seizure, where you lose awareness of what's going on around you.

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In a new Instagram Story, Gemma revealed the timeline of her daughter's health problems. She said: "Morning everyone, Just jumping on to address the recent headlines regarding Mia.

"I was recording an episode of my podcast last month and in a relaxed environment with mates i mentioned her health during a topic we were discussing.

"To put this into context, Mia's diagnosis was something we dealt with privately almost 18 months ago. This isn't recent and I'm pleased to say she's now absolutely fine. She's thriving and doing everything in life she wants to do."

She added: "The amount of support and kind messages I've received from people has been really lovely, but I don't want to mislead people into thinking this is our current situation. 18 months ago it was a scary time and to any other families who have been through or are currently going through similar I truly understand how you feel.

"There is light at the end of the tunnel though. Many children grow out of absence seizures, just like Mia has & they can live a very normal life, so stay positive, thanks again for your kind words."

It comes after Gemma said on the podcast that Mia had 'absence seizures' which have 'gotten so much better' after a year.

Gemma added that she went down a research "rabbit hole" when she heard the diagnosis. "When I was told that I was like, 'right I need to research, research, research' and I went down a rabbit hole."

A doctor recommended putting Mia on a keto diet. Gemma explained: "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."

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