U. S. researchers have found that soldiers have an increased risk of epilepsy decades after receiving a traumatic brain injury.

Post-traumatic epilepsy is the most common cause of new-onset epilepsy in young adults, with nearly 30,000 new cases per year in the United States, says Study author Jordan Grafman of the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke in Bethesda, Md.

It has been reported that Grafman and colleagues asked 199 veterans who experienced a brain injury 35 years prior whether they ever had a seizure. The study participants were also given intelligence tests and underwent scans to detect brain lesions.

Published in the journal Neurology, the study finds of the 199 people, about 44 percent developed post-traumatic epilepsy.

Grafman says in a statement, "For a surprising 13 percent, the post-traumatic epilepsy didn't show up until more than 14 years after the brain injury. This research strongly suggests that veterans with brain injury will require long-term neurology care." (With Inputs from Agencies)