|

Author:
Tim Anderson

You've suffered a right-hemisphere stroke, meaning the right side of your brain was impacted. The physical results, however, affect the left side of your body, resulting in weakness and partial paralysis. You've spent a harrowing three days on multiple hospital units, endured the poking and prodding of who-knows-how-many doctors and nurses and even, if you're not mistaken, a curious mechanic who happened to be passing through.

It's time to go home. The thought of your own food and your own bed leaves you anxiously studying each excruciatingly slow tick of the clock. You're not in great shape, but you have a few positive things working in your favor and, thank goodness, the right side of your body is humming along nicely. Not that it won't be hard, but while you undergo therapy to regain the use of your left arm, you can still work your way through your daily routine with your right. Who ever said it takes two good hands to work a fork?

Not so fast.

You watch in horror as the doctor hands your wife a white cotton strap, about three inches wide, and says, "Use this to tie down his right arm first thing each morning. It will help him regain the use of his left arm more quickly." What? The stroke must have affected your ears as well. Surely you heard that wrong...

Not at all. The therapy is known as Constraint-Induced Movement Therapy (CIMT) and it is currently being studied at Emory University and six other medical centers across the country. The theory is relatively straightforward - to improve a non-function extremity it must be utilized to the fullest extent. There is no reasonable call for rest and recovery when the issue is stroke. The call of the day is action, the sooner the better.

Emory and the other centers participated in the Extremity Constraint-Induced Therapy Evaluation (EXCITE) clinical trial. The trial involved 222 patients who had suffered strokes, primarily due to ischemia, a blockage of the flow of blood to the brain. One group received standard rehabilitative care and the second group received the constraint-induced, CIMT, therapy. The CIMT therapy involved restraining the productive, non-affected, hand or limb and forcing the patient to utilize the weakened hand to perform a variety of daily tasks. The capabilities of each group were assessed on a standardized Motor Activity Log and included tasks such as turning on a light, opening a drawer, putting on socks, answering the telephone and using a fork or spoon.

The results are promising. Patients treated with CIMT exhibited both quantitative and qualitative improvement that was superior to the standardized treatment group. The CIMT group was able to complete tasks at an 11% higher rate than the control group and they completed their tasks, on average, 50% faster. The researchers are pleased with the initial results and believe that further studies are warranted.

You've survived your first day at home. As you ponder your circumstances you find a new wave of motivation washing over your weary body. Your wife takes no notice as you study the three-inch strap that secured your good arm to your side for much of the day. You look back and forth from the strap to your wife, then sit back and ponder the day you will once again have full use of both arms. Suddenly, you feel like reading Stephen King.

Tim Anderson is a freelance writer who has a special interest in medical topics. Visit his blog at http://medicalmigrant.blogspot.com/.

| Translate/Traduisez/Übersetzen Sie/Traduzca/Traduca/Traduza: Article Keywords: Stroke Report

A Quick Note From The Publisher... If you like the article above, you may be interested in the following article which is also related to Stroke Report... Stress And High Blood Pressure Stress can make blood pressure go up for a while, and it has been thought to contribute to high blood pressure. But the long-term effects of stress are as yet unclear. Stress management techniques do not seem to prevent high blood pressure. However, such techniques may have other benefits, such as making you feel better or helping you to control over-eating thus helping in decreasing your blood pressure.. Remember Your blood pressure increases remarkably when you are under physical or emotional stress. If you constantly feel "stressed out," your body may maintain an abnormally high level of responsiveness, creating an artificially induced state of high blood pressure. Exercise can also cause stress, but Unlike exercise, which provides your body with well-controlled physical stress for a limited amount of time, chronic stress does not benefit your circulatory system. Rather, it increases your risk of illness. However, stress is very much a part of modern life, and it can be hard to control the amount of stress in your life without changing your daily habits significantly. What are the ways to control your stress? Many persons do follow these habits to relieve from stress—eating, drinking alcohol, and smoking—contribute to the development of high blood pressure. You may wish to use exercise to manage your stress. Failing that, you may need to seek counseling to help you change how you think about certain things that cause you to be stressed, or to learn relaxation techniques. Relaxation techniques, including progressive muscle relaxation and transcendental meditation may help reduce mild high blood pressure. How your heart is affected by stress? Stress has noticeable effects on the cardiovascular system. Who hasn't felt their heart beat faster because of stress or...