WHAT ADVICE SHOULD BE GIVEN TO PEOPLE WITH EPILEPSY – PHYSICAL ACTIVITY, YES OR NO?

People with epilepsy (PWE) face numerous difficulties. Because of the complicity of the disease, a thorough treatment of those patients requires a multidisciplinary approach. One of the important aspects such approach should take into account is the quality of life of PWE. Apart from the pharmacological solutions, it is necessary to further search for non-pharmacological ones. In addition to raising education and level of awareness this means dealing with physical activity due to numerous benefits. Sometimes doctors themselves do not know how to assess risks and benefits, and in order to protect the patients, advise that it is best not to engage in any sport, thereby contributing to the vicious circle - fear - stigma - poor quality of life. The aim of this paper is to unify the experiences of various researchers on this topic, to point out the many difficulties that PWE meet, and to define guidelines in the workplace. We will try to answer a commonly posed question which sometimes in practice remain unclarified, that is - whether epilepsy patients should be involved in sports, if so - which sport, and what intensity of physical activity would be allowed, can they participate in the competitions. In order to provide patients with a decent life quality it is necessary to work on the education of patients and doctors, and the society as well. While giving recommendations, it is necessary to follow the guidelines, among which are the most comprehensive ones were created by the International League Against Epilepsy (ILAE) in 2016