For the first time ever, a treatment option that’s become increasingly popular in Parkinson’s patients – deep-brain stimulation – is being tested on a stroke survivor. 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 activity, Laurie Ann Bonkoski, a speech therapist, compares a stroke to a home whose front entrance has all of a sudden become blocked by a fallen tree. And in her studies, she’s determined to bypass that blockage and access other pathways that can help bring back as much functionality to the person as possible.
To operate in tandem with therapy to make new neural pathways, Dr. Andre Machado of the Cleveland Clinic implanted the first deep-brain stimulating electrode into a stroke patient as the first step in this stroke recovery clinical human trial. The next phase will be to turn it on, delivering the electrical impulses that he hopes will encourage brain growth. Based on the outcomes of this trial, several 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.”
Independence-4-Seniors Home Care will be keeping an eye on developments in this study. In the meantime, if you have someone you care about who’s suffered a stroke, contact us for in-home care assistance to make improvements to his or her quality of life. We're able to help in the Chicago area in the following ways:
- Planning and preparing healthy and balanced meals according to any prescribed dietary plan
- Helping with light cleaning and laundry
- Conducting a safety analysis of the home to reduce fall risks
- Providing escorted transport to health appointments or other excursions
- Picking up prescriptions and running errands
- And much, much more