Originally published June 6 2005
Magnetic therapy can help stroke patients recover, study says
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
A new study at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston found that sending magnetic pulses through the brains of stroke patients helped in recovering function. The small study included eight stroke patients who all showed improved function after receiving the magnetic therapy in the undamaged side of their brains. By using the therapy on the healthy half of patients' brains, the damaged half was forced to take up more function to compensate for the other half. Researchers say the results are preliminary and more testing on larger groups of people is needed.
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.
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