Deans' stroke musings: Relationship Between Body Mass Index and Rehabilitation Outcomes in Chronic Stroke

Changing stroke rehab and research worldwide now.Time is Brain! trillions and trillions of neurons that DIE each day because there are NO effective hyperacute therapies besides tPA(only 12% effective). I have 523 posts on hyperacute therapy, enough for researchers to spend decades proving them out. These are my personal ideas and blog on stroke rehabilitation and stroke research. Do not attempt any of these without checking with your medical provider. Unless you join me in agitating, when you need these therapies they won't be there.

What this blog is for:

My blog is not to help survivors recover, it is to have the 10 million yearly stroke survivors light fires underneath their doctors, stroke hospitals and stroke researchers to get stroke solved. 100% recovery. The stroke medical world is completely failing at that goal, they don't even have it as a goal. Shortly after getting out of the hospital and getting NO information on the process or protocols of stroke rehabilitation and recovery I started searching on the internet and found that no other survivor received useful information. This is an attempt to cover all stroke rehabilitation information that should be readily available to survivors so they can talk with informed knowledge to their medical staff. It lays out what needs to be done to get stroke survivors closer to 100% recovery. It's quite disgusting that this information is not available from every stroke association and doctors group.

Sunday, August 5, 2012

Relationship Between Body Mass Index and Rehabilitation Outcomes in Chronic Stroke

Another excuse for not setting aggressive recovery goals. Don't be fat and have a stroke.

http://journals.lww.com/ajpmr/Abstract/publishahead/Relationship_Between_Body_Mass_Index_and.99534.aspx

Abstract

Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship between body mass index (BMI) and change in motor impairment and functional mobility after a gait rehabilitation intervention in chronic stroke subjects.

Design: Correlation and linear regression analyses of pretreatment and end-of-treatment Fugl-Meyer scores and modified Emory Functional Ambulation Profile scores from hemiparetic subjects (n = 108, >3 mos post stroke) who participated in a randomized controlled trial comparing two 12-wk ambulation training treatments were generated.

Results: A series of linear regression models that controlled for age, sex, stroke type, interval post-stroke, and training device found the change in the Fugl-Meyer score to be significantly negatively associated with pretreatment BMI ([beta] = -0.207, P = 0.036) and the change in the "up and go" modified Emory Functional Ambulation Profile score to be significantly positively associated with BMI ([beta] = 0.216, P = 0.03). Changes in modified Emory Functional Ambulation Profile scores in floor, carpet, obstacles, or stair climbing were not significantly associated with BMI.

Conclusions: Chronic stroke subjects with a higher BMI were less likely to demonstrate improvement in motor impairment and up and go functional mobility performance in response to ambulation training, irrespective of treatment intervention. Stroke rehabilitation clinicians should consider BMI when formulating rehabilitation goals. Further studies are necessary to determine whether obesity is a predictor of longer-term post-stroke motor and functional recovery.