I certainly relate to the chronic fatigue that happens after a stroke. It seemed to sap energy for quite some time. I was convinced at the time that going back to running helped greatly to help get past chronic fatigue.
And now, researchers have found that combo therapy may ease fatigue after stroke, as reported by Reuters Health:
The researchers recruited 83 patients who were suffering from chronic fatigue an average of four years after having a stroke.
Half were randomly assigned to 12 weeks of cognitive therapy alone, and half had cognitive therapy plus the exercise training. ...
After 12 weeks, the study found, 58 percent of patients receiving both therapies had a "clinically relevant" improvement in their fatigue, based on questionnaires. That compared with 24 percent of patients who'd had only cognitive therapy.
A clinically relevant improvement meant that patients had noticeable changes in their daily activities, [lead researcher Aglaia] Zedlitz said.
The findings, reported in the journal Stroke, suggest that a combination of cognitive therapy and exercise might help post-stroke fatigue.(Photo from the National Institutes of Health)
1 comment:
I was fortunate to have 2 years of both cognitive and physical therapy and I really believe the exercise made a big difference in my exhaustion level.. ie I had lots more energy, but still fatigue is a daily issue that I have to plan around. (cognitive helped me figure out how to actually organize my exercising and coping with the fatigue throughout the day.)
I have not been keeping up the exercise at the same level that I was, and I can feel the fatigue increasing again. I kind of thought the fatigue was "improved or fixed" with the exercise, or time, but I guess it is more something you need to keep doing to maintain the gains.
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