Gemma Atkinson has revealed her daughter’s significant new health diagnosis.
The former Hollyoaks actress shares her six-year-old daughter Mia with her fiancé, Strictly Come Dancing professional Gorka Marquez.
The couple - who met on Strictly in 2017 and later got engaged in February 2021 - are also parents to their two-year-old son Thiago.
Now, Gemma has confirmed that her only girl Mia has been diagnosed with epilepsy.
According to the NHS, the condition affects your brain and causes seizures. There currently is no cure, but there are treatments available to help manage it.
Speaking on her podcast, Just As Well, The Women's Health Podcast, Gemma reflected on her reaction when she was first informed of Mia’s diagnosis.
"When I was told that, I was like, 'Right I need to research, research, research,' and I went down a rabbit hole,” the 40-year-old confessed, before recalling that her daughter’s doctor recommended a keto diet for Mia.
"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 praised.
"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,” she explained further.
Mia’s health update comes as Gemma recently gave an insight into her wedding plans with Gorka.
Speaking to the Express last month, she detailed: “We've toyed about doing it in Spain, so his family can come, and we've even thought about doing it in a registry office or a hotel in Manchester, just the two of us, and then have a big party after.”
Gemma added: “But I think now we want to wait until Thiago is a bit older, so maybe next year or the year after, as he's only two. If he's a bit older, he could be involved in it, which would be really nice."
