Monday, November 25, 2019

Benefits of incorporating more aerobic activity into stroke rehabilitation – Harvard Health Blog

First YOUR DOCTOR IS RESPONBSIBLE for getting you recovered enough to do aerobic exercises. DEMAND that your doctor have EXACT STROKE PROTOCOLS THAT DO THAT.  This incorrectly puts all the focus on the survivor, that is wrong. Your doctor is responsible for getting you recovered. Screaming may be required. 

Benefits of incorporating more aerobic activity into stroke rehabilitation – Harvard Health Blog

After a stroke, the main goal is to go back home and be as independent as possible. To achieve that goal, most rehabilitation centers focus on helping people regain lost function, such as the inability to use a hand, speak, swallow, or walk. Much attention is paid to functional recovery, so that the patient can go home safely and adequately with daily activities (ADLs). With most stroke rehabilitation programs little effort is put into doing aerobic exercises and conditioning.
A recent systematic review and meta-analysis published in the Journal of the American Heart Association (JAHA) found that stroke survivors benefit from aerobic programs similar to those found in cardiac rehabilitation programs. These findings may give rise to a closer look at how stroke rehab programs are designed.

Aerobic exercise can help in achieving rehabilitation after a stroke

Exercise has many known benefits for body and mind. These include lowering blood pressure and resting heart rate; increasing HDL (good) cholesterol levels; lowering triglycerides; increasing the body’s ability to break down clots; improving insulin sensitivity, which helps prevent and control diabetes; increasing muscle mass; increasing metabolism; improve mood; and reduce anxiety. Many of these benefits can also help prevent a new stroke.
Another priority for most stroke survivors is the ability to walk or move around. However, research shows that stroke survivors spend nearly 80% of their days sitting or lying down. In addition, they collect less than 50% of the steps compared to what their healthy counterparts accumulate.
Sedentary behavior leads to deconditioning, reduced aerobic capacity and lower energy levels. It also contributes to higher triglyceride levels, a risk factor for stroke. Allowing survivors of a stroke to be upright and mobile during the day can prevent a new stroke.

Stroke rehabilitation programs can be a sign of cardiac rehabilitation

Stroke survivors are usually discharged from a hospital or rehabilitation center with a training program to continue at home. The program usually focuses on functional exercises that help them perform their ADLs independently. Sometimes home physiotherapy and occupational therapy are given for a few weeks, but little or no attention is given to increasing aerobic capacity with a walking program.
Patients who have had a heart attack often participate in an outpatient cardiac rehabilitation program that focuses on increasing aerobic capacity. There is no equivalent aerobic activity-based outpatient program for stroke survivors. JAHA’s systematic review and meta-analysis suggests that this should perhaps happen.
Researchers investigated 19 studies that looked at the use of aerobic training programs for stroke survivors. The aerobic training programs usually ran (47%), some stationary bicycles (21%), some mixed modality (21%) and some recumbent bicycles (11%). The amount of exercise was comparable to the amount and intensity of that offered in most cardiac rehabilitation centers for heart attack survivors. The researchers discovered that programs with two to three exercise sessions per week, for 30 to 90 minutes per session for eight to 18 weeks, resulted in significant improvements in aerobic capacity and the distance the stroke survivor could walk in six minutes (the six minutes) ) walking test.
More research is needed, but in the near future, survivors of a stroke may join survivors of a heart attack in heart rehabilitation facilities.

Include more aerobic activity in stroke recovery, with or without a formal program

Until aerobic training becomes part of routine discharge planning for people who have had a stroke, they can talk to their doctor about starting a walking program. The goal would be to work a maximum of two to three sessions per week for 30 minutes or longer per session.
Local YMCA programs can have treadmills available, as well as personal trainers, if required, for supervision. If a stroke survivor is fired with home physiotherapy, they can discuss a walking program with their therapist. Having an exercise buddy – a family member, friend, or fellow stroke survivor – helps with motivation and consistency. For survivors of a stroke who are not walking independently, swimming or swimming exercises can be beneficial.

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