- More people are surviving strokes, but many experience disabilities, sometimes for years afterward.
- Deep brain stimulation is an emerging form of treatment for various neurological conditions.
- A research team has now tested a deep brain stimulation device — previously tested on rodents — on human stroke survivors in a first-of-its-kind phase 1 clinical trial.
- The researchers discovered that this is a safe intervention, and that upper limb movement in affected stroke survivors improved after a regime combining deep brain stimulation with physiotherapy.
Stroke is increasingly survivable thanks to advances in treatment and public health campaigns targeted at early diagnosis, but up to 50% of survivors experience chronic disability, with many needing assistance with daily activities.
When something blocks the blood supply to part of the brain, the event is known as an ischemic stroke. When a blood vessel in the brain bursts, this is known as a hemorrhagic stroke.
The majority of strokes are ischemic strokes, and they occur when blood clots or other particles block the blood vessels in the brain. Fatty deposits can cause blockages by building up in the blood vessels, according to the
Dr. Clare Jonas, research communications manager at the
“Ischemic stroke is a blockage in one of the brain’s blood vessels which causes neurons to start to die. The effects of stroke are dependent on where the blockage in the brain is. Stroke is a recoverable condition because the brain can ‘rewire’ itself around this damage to relearn skills like motor function. For [treating the] effects of stroke — like arm weakness — this traditionally means a lot of physiotherapy.”
One option for the treatment of stroke patients currently being explored is deep brain stimulation. This is a surgical procedure in which a device is implanted under a patient’s skin and sends out…
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