Physical exercise in rats with epilepsy is protective against seizures: evidence of animal studies

Abstract

-People with epilepsy have been discouraged from participating in physical activity due to the fear that it will exacerbate seizures. Clinical and animal studies indicate a reduction of seizure frequency as well as decrease susceptibility to subsequently evoked seizures after an exercise program. Analyses from experimental studies of animals with epilepsy submitted to physical training programs were performed. In all studies the physical training was able to reduce the number of spontaneous seizures in rats with epilepsy. Seizure occurrence during exercise was relatively absent in the majority of studies. No death was found in animals with epilepsy during 1680 h of exercise. Based on these results it is plausible encouraging persons with epilepsy to non-pharmacological treatments and preventative measures such as physical exercise.KEy wordS: exercise, physical training, epilepsy, seizure, rat.exercício físico em ratos com epilepsia como fator protetor contra crises epilépticas: evidencias de estudos em animais resumo -Pessoas com epilepsia têm sido desencorajadas da prática de atividade física por receio do exercício físico exacerbar as crises epilépticas. Estudos clínicos e em animais mostram uma redução da frequência de crises, assim como diminuição da susceptibilidade a crises subseqüentes após programa de exercício físico. Neste estudo realizamos uma análise de estudos experimentais de animais com epilepsia submetidos a programas de exercício físico. Em todos os estudos, o treinamento físico foi capaz de reduzir o número de crises espontâneas em ratos com epilepsia. A ocorrência de crises durante o exercício físico foi relativamente ausente na maioria dos estudos. Nenhuma morte foi encontrada em animais com epilepsia durante 1680 h de exercício físico. Baseados nestes resultados parece aceitável encorajar as pessoas com epilepsia a tratamentos não farmacológicos e medidas preventivas como o exercício físico.

Antidepressant and anticonvulsant effects of exercise in a rat model of epilepsy and depression comorbidity

“…For example, exercise has been found clinically to reduce depressive symptoms in mild to moderately affected patients, and wheel running produces antidepressant-like behaviors in a variety of rodent models of stress and depression compared with sedentary controls [27]. Likewise, exercise has anticonvulsant effects in several rodent seizure models [17, 28, 29], and some clinical benefit has been seen in preliminary human studies [30-32]. Importantly for this proposal, epileptics who are physically active have significantly lower levels of depression than inactive subjects [33].…”

Evaluation of physical educators' knowledge about epilepsy

“…At the same time as restriction and overprotection are put into action, clinical 3,9,11,12 and experimental studies [13][14][15] have shown positive effects of exercise in epilepsy. For instance, most experiments on brain electrical activity have shown that abnormal discharges disappear in most patients during physical activity but return at rest 11,16 . It has been also observed that fewer seizures occur during both mental and physical activity compared with periods of rest 18,19 .…”

“…It has been also observed that fewer seizures occur during both mental and physical activity compared with periods of rest 18,19 . The increased vigilance and attention involved in exercise could explain the reduction in the number of seizures 16 . In animal studies, a reduction of seizure frequency was observed after an aerobic physical training 14,19 .…”

Epilepsy and physical exercise

“…Rats with pilocarpineinduced epilepsy submitted to a physical training program presented a lower frequency of spontaneous seizures than controls. 19,20,46,48,49 A very low probability of exercise-induced seizures was found and no sudden death occurred while exercising. Even strength training (climbing series with progressively heavier load) improved seizure frequency.…”

“…25 Nevertheless, clinical investigation presents several limitations, such as lack of appropriate controls and the presence of potential confounders, like compliance to physical exercise and to AEDs therapy. 48 Some human researches have been more successful than others. Nakken et al 14 studied twenty-one patients with uncontrolled epilepsy submitted to aerobic physical exercise for four weeks, and no difference between seizure frequency two weeks before, during, or two weeks after the exercise program was found.…”