Stroke Therapy Gives Hope To Some

Restraint Forces Patients To Use Debilitated Hand

(CBS)  Rebounding from the damage a stroke can cause involves a lot of frustrating, hard work. But as Dr. Emily Senay reports, evidence is mounting that at least for certain patients, the results can be dramatic.

Five years ago, Ted Augustus suffered two strokes that left him with almost no use of his right hand. But Ted has come a long way since then.

"One time I wasn't able to turn a doorknob, wasn't able to put a key into a lock and turn it, but now I can do it real well," Augustus says.

A therapy that employs a mitt may have been the key to Ted's success. The idea is simple: restraining his good hand, his left hand, has forced him to use his the hand debilitated by the stroke. Ted and other stroke patients received this specialized form of therapy as part of a clinical trial led by researcher Steven Wolf at Emory University.

"The amount by which the folks receiving constraint induced movement therapy is highly significantly better than those receiving usual and customary care," Wolf says.

Patients like Ted were enrolled as early as three months into their recoveries, before they could get too accustomed to using just their stronger arm.

"You have to remember, it doesn't take very long for a patient who is not using their impaired limb because of a stroke to learn how not to use it," Wolf explains.

For Ted, forcing the weaker hand to work was a challenge. "In fact, the first day I wanted to quit. It was that hard trying to do things with your bad hand that you know you couldn't do," he explains.

But in just two weeks of intensive therapy, Ted and other participants were able to make progress that was still measurable a year later. And now, five years later, Ted says, "In my daily life I can just about do anything. I might have to do it slower than normal person, but I can do it."

Unfortunately, this form of therapy will not benefit most patients debilitated by strokes. A certain amount of movement in the wrist and fingers is required. But for up to 30 percent of patients, who retain some movement as Ted did, there's real potential for impressive results.

The therapy is not yet widely available but the positive findings of this study may encourage more rehab centers to include it.