While many stroke survivors suffer from motor impairment, aerobic exercise could improve their ability to walk and build endurance, according to a new US study.
the sport is good for health, it is regularly proven. This allows, among other things, boost memory and of combat cognitive declineovercome overweight and depression and reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease. At present, these are the first cause of death in the world and the second in France after cancer. Among the acute or chronic complications that they can cause, there are vascular dementia, vision problems, chronic heart or kidney failure, myocardial infarction or cerebrovascular accidents (CVA). The latter concern moreover 150,000 people each year in France.
According to Stroke Research Foundation, about 20% of people who have an attack die within a year. And among the survivors, about 60% keep neurological sequelae ranging from motor deficit to language disorders through sensory or visual damage. While most hospitals have cardiac rehabilitation programs to help these people get back on their feet, following group aerobic programs would significantly help them walk properly again and build endurance, according to a study published on August 14. Journal of the American Heart Association.
To reach this conclusion, researchers at the University of South Carolina in the United States followed nearly 500 adults, aged on average 54 to 71 years. They put them on exercise programs two to three times a week for three months. These sessions included walking, stationary cycling and aerobic exercises.
Participants significantly increased their endurance level and speed
Ultimately, the researchers were able to observe that aerobics gave better results, followed by walking. Overall, the participants significantly improved their endurance level and speed. Another interesting observation: patients with mild motor impairment are those who have benefited the most from these sports sessions, note the researchers.
Unfortunately, most stroke rehabilitation care today places too little emphasis on aerobics, the researchers say. “Our analysis looked at stroke survivors from less than six months to more than a year since the stroke, and benefits were seen whether they started an aerobic exercise program a month or one year after having a stroke,” said Elizabeth Regan, DPT, lead author of the study.
Few long-term follow-up data
“Almost every hospital has a cardiac rehabilitation program, so this is an existing platform that could be used for stroke survivors. Referring stroke patients to these existing programs can be an easy solution, cost-effective and beneficial in the long term,” says Stacy Fritz, co-author of the study.
This, however, has some limitations. Indeed, no analysis was performed on a control group in order to compare the results. Furthermore, little follow-up data was available to observe whether the benefits of exercise on the health of patients lasted in the long term.
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