Men who vigorously exercise as young adults could reduce their risk of developing epilepsy in later life, according to a new study published in the online edition of Neurology, the journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

Conducted partly by Elinor Ben-Menachem PhD, MD – an associate member of the Academy from the University of Gothenburg, Sweden – the study is the first in humans to show that exercise may reduce the risk of epilepsy.

As part of the study, 1.17m Swedish men were given cycling tests to measure their CV fitness when they enlisted for military service aged 18. They were then tested for epilepsy at an average of 25 years afterwads. It turned out that after their follow ups with doctors, 6,796 of the men were diagnosed with epilepsy.

Results showed that men who had a high level of fitness were 79 per cent less likely to develop the neurological condition than those with low levels of fitness. When compared to those with a medium level of fitness, it was found that those with a higher level were 36 per cent less likely to develop epilepsy.

Upon further study, 2,381 out of 496,973 people with high fitness levels developed the condition at a percentage of 0.48 per cent, while of those of medium and low levels of fitness developed the condition at percentages of 0.62 per cent (3,913 out of 629,876 people) and 1.09 per cent (502 out of 46,230 people) respectively.

"Exercise may affect epilepsy risk in two ways. It may protect the brain and create stronger brain reserve, or it may simply be that people who are fit early in life tend to also be fit later in life, which in turn affects disease risk," Ben-Menachem said.

"There are a host of ways exercise has been shown to benefit the brain and reduce the risk of brain diseases," said study author Ben-Menachem. "This is the first study in humans to show that exercise may also reduce the risk of epilepsy, which can be disabling and life-threatening."

Details of the study can be found in the online edition of Neurology: http://lei.sr?a=d0H5u