Restraining good arm aids stroke recovery

[Celebration]

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/11644034/

DALLAS - As long as five years after suffering a stroke, people were able to regain use of a weak arm when their strong arm was restrained during two weeks of intensive therapy, new research shows.

The study was small but is the best evidence yet that this simple and novel treatment may help restore movement to hundreds of thousands of stroke victims left with impaired limbs.

"Even if you are a long time after your stroke, there is a hope of gaining recovery," said study co-author Gitendra Uswatte, assistant professor of psychology at University of Alabama at Birmingham.

Patients also retained the benefits of this brief treatment up to two years afterward, according to the findings published Thursday in the American Heart Association's online journal Stroke.

[Redstone]

1. That actually makes sense. The treatment for amblyopia ("lazy eye")

is to put a patch over the good eye, and force the bad one to work harder.

It works. (Wish my parents had the sense to do it for me whan I was a kid).

Thanks for posting this. It's important information.

Redstone

[roguevalley]

2. thank you. my dad is going to do this. you did a good deed posting this.

[Warpy]

3. The operative word is "weak."

Sometimes a stroke completely destroys the pathways for voluntary movement on one side of the body. Restraining the "good" side will do no good and will impede teaching a patient how to care for hiself (feeding, dressing, bathing) with one good arm.

In other words, don't try this at home, kiddies.