Reduction in Seizure Frequency With a High-Intensity Fitness Program (CrossFit): A Case Report

This 2020 case report describes a woman in her 40s treated in Stockholm, Sweden, beginning in 2016. The patient was first hospitalized after a seizure in March 2016; CT and MRI scans revealed a tumor within the left frontal lobe. The tumor was removed in July 2016, after which the patient began experiencing seizures at a rate of approximately five per month. Through October 2017, her medication was continually modified to attempt to reduce seizure frequency, settling at daily doses of eslicarbazepine acetate, lacosamide, and levetiracetam, alongside CBD and a ketogenic diet. These interventions, in total, reduced seizure frequency to four per month. The patient was moderately active but did little to no high-intensity exercise.

In January 2019, after 15 months during which medication, diet, and symptoms were stable, the patient began training CrossFit three days per week. Immediately, seizure frequency decreased to two to three per month, a 33% decrease. The patient had previously experienced suicidal ideation, which resolved. She also reported improved quality of life and the ability to return to work on a part-time basis. This state remained stable for the remaining six months the patient was observed.

The authors do not provide an explanation for why CrossFit led to a consistent reduction in seizure frequency, though they propose increased ketone levels, increased brain GABA concentrations, and other metabolic changes in the brain may have played a role.

The figure below illustrates the change in seizure frequency observed in the patient.