Magnetic therapy can help stroke patients recover, study says

• Sending magnetic pulses through the brain might improve the physical performance of people who suffer strokes, according to results of a small study.
• There was a noticeable improvement in hand function for the eight people who had suffered a stroke in the past year and who received the magnetic impulses, said researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston.
• No improvement was noted when the stroke patients got sham treatment.
• And no change in performance was found in six people who had never had a stroke but got the magnetic treatment, the researchers said.
• "These results are exciting because magnetic stimulation is a noninvasive, painless therapy that can be done while patients are awake," said Dr. Filipe Fregni, an instructor in neurology at Harvard Medical School and a staff neurologist at Beth Israel Deaconess.
• Contrary to what might be expected, the magnetic pulses were sent through the hemisphere of the brain that was not damaged by stroke.
• His group has already done one such trial, using a slightly different technique, that has produced promising results, he said.
• The newly reported trial used a method called repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation, in which an insulated wire coil is placed on the scalp and a brief electrical current is passed through the coil, creating a magnetic pulse that stimulates the cortex.
• The later study used a technique called transcranial direct current stimulation, which "is a little less invasive and uses less current," Fregni said.
• Dr. Tobias Kurth is a neuroepidemiologist at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, and a spokesman for the American Academy of Neurology.
• He said the study is "important because it may provide some hope of improving motor function," but added that it should not arouse undue expectations.