Dr. med. Christoph Globas
Type of fellowship: Early Career
Duration: 1 April 2007 - 31 March 2009
Center: Geriatric Rehabilitation Clinic at Robert Bosch Krankenhaus in Stuttgart
Research project
Background
Approximately 250,000 people suffer an ischemic stroke every year in Germany, and this figure is rising steadily due to demographic trends. One-sided paralysis (hemiplegia) is one of the most common acute symptoms of stroke events. While some patients make a rapid and complete recovery, around two thirds of post-stroke patients initially retain a motor deficit. Conventional physiotherapy succeeds in substantially reducing the number of severely disabled patients within the first three to six months.
However, around a third of patients remain limited in their daily activities. Impaired mobility as a result of paralysis of the lower extremities leads to further physical inactivity and reduced fitness and hence to a more negative risk factor profile for additional vascular complications. It was long believed that any improvement in stroke patients would only occur in the first six months following the event. However, recent studies show that many different rehabilitation methods can be used to achieve functional improvements in patients with chronic stroke. For example, aerobic treadmill exercises could prove a promising approach to helping stroke patients with chronic hemiplegia to learn to walk again and increase their physical fitness.
Goals
Duration: 1 April 2007 - 31 March 2009
Center: Geriatric Rehabilitation Clinic at Robert Bosch Krankenhaus in Stuttgart
Research project
Background
Approximately 250,000 people suffer an ischemic stroke every year in Germany, and this figure is rising steadily due to demographic trends. One-sided paralysis (hemiplegia) is one of the most common acute symptoms of stroke events. While some patients make a rapid and complete recovery, around two thirds of post-stroke patients initially retain a motor deficit. Conventional physiotherapy succeeds in substantially reducing the number of severely disabled patients within the first three to six months.
However, around a third of patients remain limited in their daily activities. Impaired mobility as a result of paralysis of the lower extremities leads to further physical inactivity and reduced fitness and hence to a more negative risk factor profile for additional vascular complications. It was long believed that any improvement in stroke patients would only occur in the first six months following the event. However, recent studies show that many different rehabilitation methods can be used to achieve functional improvements in patients with chronic stroke. For example, aerobic treadmill exercises could prove a promising approach to helping stroke patients with chronic hemiplegia to learn to walk again and increase their physical fitness.
Goals
- To establish a treadmill exercise program for geriatric patients with chronic symptoms of stroke at the Geriatric Rehabilitation Clinic at Robert Bosch Krankenhaus in Stuttgart.
- To assess fitness and gait parameters before and after treadmill exercising.
- To use morphological imaging in the form of state-of-the-art procedures based on nuclear spin tomography (functional MRT; measurement of cortical density, cortical thickness, and fiber tracts) to examine cerebral reorganization processes (neuroplasticity) induced by exercising. The aim of the project is to examine the compensatory capacity of the brain and the neuronal mechanisms it employs to respond to stroke-related deficits so as to better understand the improvements brought about by exercising and optimize exercise programs on the basis of these findings.