After a stroke, physical activity can be essential for a successful recovery. People who spend four hours a week exercising after a stroke achieve better functional recovery in six months than those who don’t, a study from the University of Gothenburg shows.
The study, now published in the scientific journal JAMA Open Network, is based on data from 1,500 stroke patients in 35 Swedish hospitals. Participants were grouped according to their post-stroke physical activity patterns.
The results show that increasing or maintaining physical activity, with four hours of exercise per week, doubled the chances of patients recovering well six months after a stroke. Men and people with normal cognition were active relatively more often, with better recovery as a result.
Positive exercise programming
Researchers have previously succeeded in demonstrating a clear inverse association between physical activity and the severity of stroke symptoms at the actual onset of the condition. These new findings highlight the importance of maintaining a healthy and active lifestyle after a stroke.
The study’s first and corresponding author, Dongni Buvarp, is a clinical neuroscience researcher at the Sahlgrenska Academy of the University of Gothenburg. In addition to her research internship, she is a resident physician in early specialized training at the Sahlgrenska University Hospital.
“Physical activity favorably reprograms both the brain and the body after a stroke. Exercise improves the body’s recovery at the cellular level, increases muscle strength and well-being, and reduces the risk of falls, depression, and cardiovascular disease. Regardless However severe the stroke has been, those affected may benefit from getting more exercise,” she says.
Knowledge and support are vital
“Being physically active is very important, especially after a stroke. That’s a message that all healthcare professionals, stroke victims and their loved ones need to know. Women and people with cognitive problems seem to become less active after stroke. The study results indicate that these groups need more support to get started with physical activity,” says Buvarp.
One weakness of the study is that, with a few exceptions, the researchers were unable to study how active the participants were before their stroke. The included patients were treated in Sweden in the period from 2014 to 2019.
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