ReviewCureus2026
Physical Activity in Patients With Epilepsy: A Risk Factor or a Healthy Habit?
Review in Cureus, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The approach to physical activity in patients with epilepsy has substantially changed over the last decade. Despite multiple positive effects of physical activity on general health and well-being, patients with epilepsy have long been advised not to engage in sports activities. Recent studies have led physicians to formulate updated recommendations and to encourage patients to remain active. It has been demonstrated that sport does not increase seizure prevalence, and the rate of sport-induced injuries in people with epilepsy is comparable to that of the general population. Additionally, physical activity modulates brain plasticity through a number of mechanisms, including the effect of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA)/glutamate balance, and maintaining long-term potentiation states in synapses. The International League Against Epilepsy (ILAE) classifies sports into three categories according to the potential risk of injury in the event of a seizure. While most activities fall into low- or moderate-risk groups, high-risk sports include aviation, climbing, diving, horse racing, motor sports, parachuting, rodeo, scuba diving, ski jumping, solitary sailing, surfing, and windsurfing. Qualification for sports participation requires individual assessments of predispositions, seizure type and frequency, reaction to specific sports disciplines, respiratory function, and adjustment of hydration and nutrition. The intensity of training should be increased gradually to avoid triggering factors, such as hyperventilation, alkalosis, and hyperthermia. Seizure occurrence differs between aerobic and anaerobic sports, which is another aspect that needs to be included. Exercise electroencephalographic (EEG) and ambulatory EEG monitoring should be taken into account in patients with exercise-induced seizures to optimize their training plan. Despite the evolving recommendations, it is difficult to formulate universal recommendations for everyone. Each patient with epilepsy should undergo an individual qualification process and be appropriately monitored.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.