How electric shocks can help stroke victims move by zapping a key nerve in the body
- A stroke occurs when the blood supply to the brain is cut off by blood clots
- Physical therapy is often used as a way to improve the survivor’s muscle strength
- Research shows that zapping an important nerve in the body resulted in three times the improvement
Giving stroke survivors mild electric shocks in addition to intensive physical therapy can help them gain better movement in weakened arms and hands, a study shows.
Strokes occur when the blood supply to the brain is cut off by blood clots or a burst blood vessel. About 100,000 people are affected in Britain every year.
They can often cause paralysis and debilitating weakness in the limbs, drastically affecting a patient’s quality of life, such as whether he or she is able to eat and drink or even dress.
Physical therapy is often used as a way to improve muscle strength and help stroke survivors walk more easily — but it can take years to recover.
Giving stroke survivors mild electric shocks in addition to intensive physical therapy can help them gain better range of motion in weakened arms and hands, a study shows
Now researchers at the MGH Institute of Health Professions in Boston have found that a six-week course of intensive physical therapy exercises, combined with gently zapping a major nerve in the body, produced improvements of up to three times the extent to which people were weakened. arms and hands could move. compared to physiotherapy alone.
And studies show that patients were still reaping the benefits – known as vagus nerve stimulation – a year after treatment. A pacemaker is placed in the chest and is connected to a lead that wraps around the neck and delivers gentle electrical shocks to the vagus nerve, which runs from the base of the skull to the abdomen.
Strokes occur when the blood supply to the brain is cut off by blood clots or a burst blood vessel. It affects around 100,000 people in Britain every year
It is thought that stimulating this nerve, which is an important part of the body’s nervous system, can help rewire the brain around areas damaged by the stroke and thus improve limb movements.
“People often do not seek additional treatment after a stroke because they believe their current limitations are permanent,” said Teresa J. Kimberley, lead author of the study. ‘This is not true. Paired vagus nerve stimulation opens a new path and new hope for these patients.”
A team from Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is now trialling a treatment that stimulates the vagus nerve via a wearable, pacemaker-like device and a wired earpiece, in the hope it could provide a revolutionary new way for stroke survivors to manage their improve symptoms. .