The Medical Freedom Channel

“It has been nearly 10 years since a stroke left Jim Porter with an all-but-useless left hand and a weakened left arm. In the old days, he would have had no options: conventional wisdom long held that after a few months of recovery, stroke survivors never get any better. But in recent years, the stroke rehabilitation field has junked what some called its ‘nihilism’ as research has increasingly shown that the brain continues to change all through life — suggesting that under the right conditions, the nation’s 5 million stroke survivors may be able to improve even years later. That shift of thinking brought Porter, now 70, from his Nashua home to Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital in Boston this week. He hoped to qualify for a study just getting underway there. Researchers will implant electrical stimulators just inside the skulls of stroke survivors, aiming to help their brain rewire enough to restore movement to their arms and hands. ‘I’d go through anything to get my left hand back,’ Porter said. Electrical stimulation is one of many methods that researchers are exploring as ways to induce these later gains.” [editor’s note: One more good example of seeking to “heal” instead of just “maintain.” - SAT] (12/21/06)