“Shocking” New Study Linking Electrode Implants and Stroke Recovery

Deep-brain stimulation, a treatment sometimes used for Parkinson's patients, is being tested on a patient in stroke recovery. Involving the implantation of an electrode that stimulates a particular area of the brain, the anticipated response will be a reversal of the paralysis so often encountered following a stroke, and the restoration of mobility.

To understand how a stroke restricts normal brain function, Laurie Ann Bonkoski, a speech therapist, compares a stroke to a home whose front door has unexpectedly become blocked by a fallen tree. And in her studies, she’s determined to evade that obstruction and access some other paths to help regain as much functionality to the patient as possible.

To work in conjunction with therapy to generate new neural pathways, Dr. Andre Machado of the Cleveland Clinic implanted the very first deep-brain stimulating electrode into a stroke patient as the initial first step in this clinical human trial. The next step will be to switch it on, sending the electrical impulses that he hopes will promote brain growth. Depending on the results of this trial, a number of other conditions are in line for comparable tests. University Hospital neurosurgeon Jennifer Sweet shares, “People are studying the benefit of this for addiction; we know that it can be effective in obsessive compulsive disorder, it’s been used to treat Tourette’s; it may even be an option for anorexia or obesity or hypertension.”

All Care, providing all access home care in southern Oregon, is going to be keeping an eye on developments in this and other stroke recovery treatments. In the meantime, if you have someone you care about who’s suffered a stroke, call us at (541) 857-9195 or contact us online for in-home care assistance to improve his or her life quality. We are able to help in any of the following ways:

• Planning and preparing nourishing meals according to any prescribed dietary plan
• Assisting with light housekeeping and laundry
• Conducting a safety evaluation of the home to decrease fall risks
• Providing escorted transportation to health care appointments or other outings
• Picking up prescription medications and running errands
• And much, much more