Mirrors reflect hope for faster stroke recovery
 A simple household item, the mirror, may speed recovery of partially paralyzed stroke patients by creating the illusion that their paralyzed limb is moving in sync with their good limb, Japanese researchers reported at this year’s World Stroke Congress.
In the conventional treatment, therapists focus solely on the paralyzed limb using stimulation and exercises. However, in the mirror therapy, both limbs are included and the focus is on affecting the brain rather than the limb itself.
In this study, the 14 patients sat with a mirror between their right and left leg. Then they lifted their feet over a three centimetre column, while researchers measured their speed. When they compared the normal results with those from the mirror therapy, they found the mirror helped increase the speed of the activity by about 12%.
This suggests that the mind may play an important role in the physical recovery of the body. The researchers say that the mirror trick and similar treatments may be a good adjunct to conventional therapy and the mental aspect deserves more focus in future research projects.
Learn more about treatments for stroke.
Posted: October 6, 2008
Source: K. Amimoto, T.Matsuda, S. Watanabe. The effect of mirror therapy on the lower limb function of chronic hemiplegic patients. 6th World Stroke Congress. Vienna, Austria.
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