Exercise still transforms the lives of rehab patients

September 1, 2008
Let’s not give up on the basics

In the era of telemedicine, clinical and business healthcare information systems and other technological marvels, it’s comforting to realize that exercise still delivers incredible benefits to rehab patients. One recent study tells the tale. Stroke patients who walk on a treadmill can improve their health and mobility—sometimes years after stroke damage occurs. Exercise actually retrains the brains and bodies of stroke victims, according to research from Johns Hopkins (http://www.hopkinsneuro.org). appearing in the August 28, 2008 issues of Stroke: Journal of the American Heart Association (http://stroke.ahajournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/STROKEAHA.108.527531v1?maxtoshow=&HITS=10&hits=10&RESULTFORMAT=&fulltext=exercise+Johns+Hopkins+2008&searchid=1&FIRSTINDEX=0&resourcetype=HWCIT)
Researchers from Johns Hopkins, the University of Maryland and the Department of Veterans Affairs Maryland VA Medical Center Geriatric Research, Education, and Clinical Center (GRECC) (http://www1.va.gov/grecc/page.cfm?pg=17) are convinced that this latest piece of research carries several important implications: Exercise can help in treating stroke damage, allowing both the brain and body to recover. Moreover, the treadmill exercise program helps patients’ brain rewire months and even years after initial stroke damage.
What the study also suggests is that rehab professionals need not limit themselves to short-term improvements of stroke patients. Instead, we can focus on long-term improvements, knowing that patients derive benefit from walking on a treadmill even decades after a stroke. For example, one patient in the Hopkins study still experienced the benefits of treadmill exercise some 20 years after having a stroke.
Speaking of the benefits of exercise in rehab, let’s not forget about the power of WiiFit
Sue Stanley-Green, a professor of athletic training at Florida Southern College, believes that WiiFit and other fitness-related games have significant potential for strength training and help boost compliance with rehabilitation exercises (http://technologyinfo.wordpress.com/2008/06/16/wiifit-latest-rehab-therapy/). Even nursing homes are experimenting with WiiFit. In fact, bowling has become such a favorite at nursing homes that staffs have organized tournaments involving 20 seniors.