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| |  Mirror Therapy May Help In Treatment Of Stroke Patients LONDON, ENGLAND -- June 11, 1999 -- Hemiparesis, one of the most common and disabling conditions in people who have had a stroke, is characterised by partial paralysis of one side of the body. In this week's issue of The Lancet, Dr. Eric Altschuler and colleagues, from the Brain and Perception Laboratory of the University of California assess whether a new mirror therapy can be used to help these patients to regain movement in the limbs, having noted that the sensation of movement can be evoked in patients who have had a hand or arm amputated, with the same therapy. The researchers studied nine patients with hemiparesis who had had a stroke at least six months previously, and randomly assigned them four weeks of mirror therapy or four weeks on a control schedule that used a clear plastic sheet in place of the mirror. Patients assigned mirror therapy were placed on a practice schedule (15 min twice daily for six days a week), which involved trying to move their hands or arms symmetrically while watching their good arm in the mirror. Patients recorded their experiences of the therapy and their progress was recorded on videotape and scored by the neurologists. The neurologists recorded that substantially more patients (seven versus one) improved on the mirror therapy than on the control therapy and patients reported that they preferred the mirror therapy. The researchers report that the mirror therapy provides patients with proper visual input because the reflection helps the patient think that their affected arm is moving correctly, even though it may not be, hence stimulating the brain to help with nerve control of limb movement. They suggest that this therapy may help to reverse elements of learned disuse of the affected limb.
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