Hello Susanne: Thank you for the wonderful article and for you time and effort to contribute to the list. Being from Denmark, helps show that the OTnow mailing list is truly and International effort to educate and discuss occupational therapy. Ron ---------- On 3/20/2001, Susanne Said: S> Ok - here's one: S> susanne, denmark S> -----Oprindelig meddelelse----- S> Fra: Spinal Cord Injury Peer Net <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> S> Til: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> S> Dato: 8. december 2000 18:52 S> Emne: New Therapy Helps Stroke Victims Recover Arm Movements S> New Therapy Helps Stroke Victims Recover Arm Movements S> St. Louis, Nov. 30, 2000 � Researchers at Washington University S> School of S> Medicine in St. Louis have found that a new technique called S> constraint-induced movement (CIM) therapy, or forced-use therapy, S> allows S> stroke patients to improve motor functions, even if therapy does S> not begin S> until 14 days after their stroke. The results from this pilot S> study appear S> in the December issue of the journal Stroke. S> Each year, roughly 730,000 Americans suffer a temporary loss of S> blood flow S> to the brain, known as an ischemic stroke. Many survivors have S> difficulty S> moving one of their arms and consequently struggle to perform S> normal routine S> activities, such as getting dressed. S> Although interventions during or immediately after a stroke have S> improved S> greatly in recent years, no currently available treatments S> facilitate motor S> recovery several days, months or years after a stroke. "Millions S> of people S> who had a stroke some time ago are looking for some way to S> improve," says S> Alexander W. Dromerick, M.D., first author of the study. S> "Research on stroke S> prevention and early intervention isn�t going to help them." S> Dromerick is an S> associate professor of neurology and of occupational therapy at S> the School S> of Medicine. S> Traditional rehabilitation therapies try to optimize the use of S> the S> unaffected limb. "Rehabilitation focuses on the return to S> independence," S> Dromerick explains. "The typical approach has been that we don�t S> care how S> you get dressed as long as you do it." S> Such methods help compensate for stroke-induced disability but do S> not S> attempt to treat the impairment, the researchers point out. "We S> want you to S> dress independently, but we want you to do it because you have S> recovered S> strength and coordination, not because you�ve learned a trick for S> one-handed S> dressing," Dromerick says. S> CIM therapy, scientists argue, helps patients regain strength and S> coordination. The treatment encourages use of the impaired arm as S> much as S> possible rather than promoting dependence on the healthy limb. S> Dromerick and colleagues randomly placed 23 patients who had S> suffered an S> ischemic stroke within the previous 14 days into two groups: The S> control S> group received traditional occupational therapy that focused on S> compensatory S> techniques. The other group received CIM therapy that focused on S> the S> affected arm. In between sessions, the CIM patients wore a padded S> mitten on S> the healthy hand for at least six hours per day. The mitten S> discouraged them S> from using this hand. Both groups had therapy for two hours a S> day, five days S> per week, for 14 days. S> Twenty of the 23 patients completed treatment. One patient in the S> CIM group S> recovered sufficiently to be discharged before the end of the 14 S> days. Two S> patients in the traditional therapy group failed to complete S> treatment S> because one died and one had a second stroke. No patient withdrew S> because of S> pain or frustration. S> At the end of these 14 days of therapy, the CIM patients showed S> more S> improvement in overall arm strength and coordination than S> patients who S> received traditional therapy. They were particularly improved at S> pinching S> tasks, such as those critical to buttoning a shirt or picking up S> a fork. In S> some functional tasks, like getting dressed, they did better. S> "People who S> received the experimental treatment were certainly as independent S> as the S> other patients, and there were some indications that the group as S> a whole S> was more independent," says Dromerick. S> He and his colleagues hope to study a larger patient group to S> investigate S> this effect further and to find out how long the positive effects S> last. S> Using imaging techniques, they will examine the effects of S> treatment on S> stroke-related brain lesions. To evaluate motor recovery, they S> will use S> kinematic assessment techniques. Although others have detected S> changes in S> the brain after forced-use therapy, it is not known whether these S> changes S> result from routine clinical care or from this particular S> treatment. S> "This study suggests that there�s another therapeutic window for S> stroke S> patients," says Dromerick. "It�s becoming clear that the S> activities a person S> engages in can affect recovery and that those interventions can S> impact the S> person�s ability to perform their normal social roles." He and S> his S> colleagues are eager to see how these interventions translate S> into S> structural changes in the brain. S> Dromerick AW, Edwards DF, Hahn M. Does the application of S> constraint-induced S> movement therapy during acute rehabilitation reduce arm S> impairment after S> ischemic stroke? Stroke, 31. December, 2000. S> Funding from The American Heart Association and The McDonnell S> Foundation. S> The full-time and volunteer faculty of Washington University S> School of S> Medicine are the physicians and surgeons of Barnes-Jewish and St. S> Louis S> Children's hospitals. The School of Medicine is one of the S> leading medical S> research, teaching and patient-care institutions in the nation. S> Through its S> affiliations with Barnes-Jewish and St. Louis Children's S> hospitals, the S> School of Medicine is linked to BJC Health System. S> ----------------------------------------------------------------- S> ----------- S> ---- S> Note: This story has been adapted from a news release issued by S> Washington S> University School Of Medicine for journalists and other members S> of the S> public. If you wish to quote from any part of this story, please S> credit S> Washington University School Of Medicine as the original source. S> You may S> also wish to include the following link in any citation: S> http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2000/12/001208074028.htm S> ____________________________________________________ S> --------- S> Unsubscribe by sending a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] In the message's body, put the following text: S> unsubscribe OTlist S> OTnow messages are archived at: S> http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected] (and) S> http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected] S> --------- --------- Unsubscribe by sending a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] In the message's body, put the following text: unsubscribe OTlist OTnow messages are archived at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected] (and) http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected] ---------
