Virtual reality stroke therapy tricks brain into rewiring itself

A portable virtual reality device has been developed to help stroke patients recover the use of their limbs. The MindPlayPRO can be used early in the recovery process to trick the patient's brain into believing that immobilised regions of their body are still working, thereby spurring the recovery to take place. Jim Drury has more

Source:
http://uk.reuters.com/video/2014/03/26/virtual-reality-stroke-therapy-tricks-br?videoId=299126765&videoChannel=5

Language Skills In Stroke Patients Improve With Magnetic Treatment

A study by The University of Queensland has revealed that language skills of individuals who survived a stroke with aphasia could be improved with magnetic stimulation of the brain. The study was conducted by Dr. Caroline Barwood, who recently completed her PhD at the University of Queensland School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences. Barwood discovered that the language skills of stroke patients following Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) were significantly improved. 

TMS is a non-invasive technique that aims to target activity in the brain in order to help restructuring brain areas with the goal of changing language behaviors. 
Source:http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/237857.php

Graded Repetitive Arm Supplementary Program( GRASP)

A home-work based program to improve arm and hand function in people living with stroke.

GUIDELINES
&
MANUAL
Link:  http://www.neostrokenetwork.com/newportal/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=bkZM1g1UEwc%3D&tabid=90

Drawing test can predict stroke risk

A SIMPLE drawing test can predict the long-term risk of dying after a first stroke among older men, research has found.

Men whose test scores were in the bottom 30pc were around three times as likely to die after a stroke as those in the highest 30pc, the team at Uppsala University in Sweden showed.

They analysed data from the Uppsala Longitudinal Study of Adult Men, which has been looking at different risk factors for heart disease and stroke in 2,322 men since the age of 50.

They looked at just under 1,000 of these men who had not been diagnosed with stroke and whose intellectual capacity was assessed when they were between 65 and 75.

This was done using the trail making test (TMT) and the mini mental state exam (MMSE), which is widely used to test for dementia.

The TMT involves drawing lines with a pencil between numbers and/or letters in ascending order as quickly as possible, while the MMSE sets participants general cognitive tasks such as orientation, memory and numeracy.

During the 14-year monitoring period from 1991 to 2006, 155 men had a first major or minor stroke, known as a TIA (transient ischaemic attack).

Just over half of them (84) died within an average of two and a half years, with 22 dying within a month of the stroke.

After taking account of known risk factors such as older age,high blood pressure, education and social background, the study found that those who had performed badly in the TMT were more likely to have died.

However the findings, which are published in the online journal BMJ Open, showed no such association among those with poor MMSE scores.

The research team suggested this is because TMT is likely to pick up latent cognitive impairments caused by silent cerebrovascular disease that have not yet produced overt symptoms.

Stroke is the third largest cause of death in England, with more than 150,000 people suffering one every year, according to the NHS Choices website.

Those over 65 are most at risk but the danger can be reduced by having a healthy diet and taking regular exercise.

Source - Jennifer Cockerell

Changing Face of Stroke: Implications for Occupational Therapy Practice

Stroke is one of the most life-altering syndromes affecting the world population. Rehabilitation for people experiencing stroke is focused almost exclusively on self-care activities and being able to return home and has little to no focus on work rehabilitation or community reintegration. The Cognitive Rehabilitation Research Group (CRRG) at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis was formed with the vision of improving everyday life for people after stroke by translating knowledge from neuroscience into treatment programs for productive living. Descriptive analysis of the intake assessment from the CRRG Clinical Core (N = 7,740) revealed three important findings: The age at stroke is decreasing, most strokes are neurologically mild to moderate in nature, and discharge placement decisions are being made largely on the basis of measures of impairment. The changes in the stroke population require occupational therapy to expand rehabilitation beyond the acute management of stroke to address full participation in work, family, and community life.


Source:http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2862359/

How a Stroke is Diagnosed

If you have had a stroke, or have had stroke warning signs or risk factors, it is very important to seek prompt medical attention.  Your doctor will work with you to find the cause of your problem and determine the best treatment.  Even if your symptoms resolve without treatment, you should still discuss them with your doctor. Don’t assume that a problem is unimportant if it goes away on its own. Never try to make a diagnosis by yourself.
Good resource for stroke....
Source:http://www.strokecenter.org/patients/stroke-diagnosis/how-a-stroke-is-diagnosed/

New stroke therapy shows promise on kids

Using non-invasive electronic stimulation, coupled with occupational therapy, researchers say they are hoping kids can increase hand function.

s it possible to experience elation putting in your own ponytail or firmly shaking hands with a stranger?

Just look at Maddy Evans' beaming face for the answer. Maddy, 16, completed a study at the University of Minnesota and Gillette Children's Specialty Healthcare, using a combination of brain stimulation and occupational therapy to help children who have had a stroke increase their hand function. Maddy now buttons her coat with both hands, can put in her own ponytail and, yes, reaches for a stranger's hand with her right one. She never used to use her right hand.

"It helped. If anything, it helped with my confidence," the 16-year-old from Lakeville said in an interview last week. "I'm using it a lot more than I used to."

The new stimulation therapy uses a noninvasive magnetic field on the healthy side of the brain. Gillette, with 2010 revenue of $164 million, has a long history of innovation in pediatric medicine.

But what the folks who ran the study cannot say yet is whether the therapy is boosting gains children achieve from occupational therapy. They need 30 children between the ages of 8 and 16 to complete the study. Seventeen children have completed it; 13 more are needed by August 2012, when funding runs out.

Read full article:http://www.startribune.com/business/135765123.html

Language Skills In Stroke Patients Improve With Magnetic Treatment

A study by The University of Queensland has revealed that language skills of individuals who survived a stroke with aphasia could be improved with magnetic stimulation of the brain. The study was conducted by Dr. Caroline Barwood, who recently completed her PhD at the University of Queensland School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences. Barwood discovered that the language skills of stroke patients following Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) were significantly improved. 

TMS is a non-invasive technique that aims to target activity in the brain in order to help restructuring brain areas with the goal of changing language behaviors. 
Source:http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/237857.php

Virtual Reality May Help Adults Recover From Stroke

Early results suggest that using virtual reality (VR) human-computer interfaces might help adult stroke patients regain arm function and improve their ability to perform standard tasks, when compared to patients who don't use VR. The findings are reported in a new review published in The Cochrane Library.

Virtual reality interfaces allow people to become immersed in a computer-generated environment. Most people are used to these in the form of video games, but they show potential as a therapeutic tool. "Virtual reality and interactive video gaming may have some advantages over traditional therapy as they may give people an opportunity to practice everyday activities that cannot be practiced within the hospital environment," says the review's leader Kate Laver, who works in the Department of Rehabilitation and Aged Care at Flinders University, Adelaide, Australia....Source:
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/233981.php

Help For Stroke Patients Who Can't Swallow

A simple function that most of us take for granted - swallowing - is the focus of University of Adelaide research which could help thousands of stroke sufferers around the world.

In an Australian first, researchers from the University's Robinson Institute are using magnetic stimulators to jump start the brain after a stroke and repair swallowing functions which break down in more than 50% of stroke patients.

Speech pathologist Dr Sebastian Doeltgen, who is part of the University's Neuromotor Plasticity & Development Research Group, has been awarded $300,000 in Federal Government funding to investigate revolutionary techniques to treat swallowing disorders....Read full article:
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/234294.php

Stroke Recovery Improves With Music Listening

A new study by researchers in Finland found that listening to music soon after a stroke appeared to improve patients' recovery.
The study is the work of Dr Teppo Sarkamo, a psychologist at the Cognitive Brain Research Unit, Department of Psychology, at the University of Helsinki and at the Helsinki Brain Research Centre, and colleagues, and is to be published today, Wednesday 20th February, in the journal Brain.
Read more...
Link: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/97891.php

Using Olive Oil In Your Diet May Prevent A Stroke

A new study suggests that consuming olive oil may help prevent a stroke in older people. The research is published in the June 15, 2011, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.
Link: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/228660.php

Game for stroke rehabilitation

The grueling therapy required to recover from a stroke has never been considered fun and games, but a Tempe company has decided maybe it should be.

Kinetic Muscle has paired video games and a robotic arm to help patients regain their physical abilities in a way that’s more engaging than traditional therapy.
The idea came when the young company developed a prototype that had patients move a light up and down on a screen as part of their therapy to regain movement, said chief operating officer Ed Koeneman.
Read more...
Source:
http://tempeinmotion.com/2011/06/tempe-company-game-for-stroke-rehabilitation/