The lighting of a music festival can provoke epileptic seizures

Researchers warned that strobing at music festivals can increase the risk of epileptic seizures.

The Dutch team said that even people who have not been diagnosed with epilepsy could be affected.

Their study was motivated by the case of a young man of 20, with no history of epilepsy, who suddenly collapsed and had a crisis of animation during a festival.

The Society of Epilepsy said that festivals should limit lighting to recommended levels.

Epilepsy is a disease that affects the brain. There are many types, and it can start at any age.

About 3% of people with epilepsy are photosensitive, meaning their seizures are triggered by flashing or flashing lights or patterns.

The Health and Safety Executive recommends that strobe lighting be maintained at a maximum of four hertz (four flashes per second) in clubs and at public events.

& # 39; Assert one's life & # 39;

The researchers studied electronic dance music festivals because they often use stroboscopic lighting.

In 2015, they examined the data on those requiring medical care among the 400,000 visitors who participated in 28 diurnal and nocturnal dance music festivals organized in the Netherlands. These figures included 241,000 people exposed to strobe lights at night festivals.

Thirty people at night events with strobe lighting had a seizure, compared with nine day events.

The team, led by Newel Salet of the VU medical center in Amsterdam, wrote for the BMJ Open that other factors could increase the risk of seizures.

But they added: "Whether strobe lights are the only ones responsible or that sleep deprivation and / or addiction also play a role, the proper interpretation is that [electronic dance music] festivals, especially at night, probably cause at least a number of people per epileptic seizure event. "

They advise anyone with photosensitive epilepsy either to avoid these events, or to take precautionary measures, such as getting enough sleep and not using drugs, not staying near the plateau and not delaying if we feel any effect "aura".

Mr. Salet told BBC News: "If a person has no predisposition to epilepsy, factors such as stroboscopic lighting will have no effect. However, most People are unaware of this predisposition they might have: More than two cases have explicitly reported to be the first time they have experienced an epileptic seizure. "

Clare Pelham, Executive Director of the Epilepsy Society, said: "The festival season has become a rite of pbadage and we encourage organizers to at least warn visitors that they are using strobe lighting so that Festival goers can decide if they will be safe for them before buying their tickets.

"But in these days when we aspire to inclusivity, the organizers could show responsibility and maintain stroboscopic lighting at a rate that poses no risk.

"The festival season is about having a good time, but it should include everyone, in a safe and supportive environment."