The largest study of its kind has found that taking the antidepressant Prozac can help to restore the movement in stroke patients. The dug can assist recovery after a stroke whether patients are depressed or not. The study recommends that Prozac can relieve mood swings and help neurons to reinstate connections in the brain of stroke patient.
It also speeds up their recovery. The SSRIs such as Lexapro, Celexa, Paxil, Zoloft and Prozac have been well-known to improve motor skill recovery after stroke. The pills enhance the levels of serotonin and other compounds in the central nervous system which are believed to improve nerve growth.
In order to analyze the benefits of Prozac in stroke patients, the research team from the University Hospital of Toukouse observed one hundred and eighteen patients for five t ten days after a stroke. Half were given Prozac and remaining patients were given a dummy. The patients on Prozac showed greater improvements in motor faction after three months of treatment.
The improvement was significant for both upper and lower limbs, because after a stroke paralysis and weakness on one side of the body are the most common disabilities. Additionally, depression was considerably less common in patients given Prozac, explained lead author Prof Francois Chollet.
The optimistic effect of the drug on motor function of recuperating patients proposes that the action of SSRIs offers a new alleyway that could be explored further in the treatment of acute ischaemic stroke, added Prof Chollet. All the patients were provided physiotherapy.
Depression after a stroke is frequent enough to have raised the question of treating with antidepressants early after stroke. If motor functions is more prone to improve then treating prior to symptoms of depression appear is likely to be even more advantageous, explained Roger Bonomo, director of stroke care at Lenox Hill Hospital, in New York.
The regular use of SSRIs drugs may be greatly advantageous for such patients those require constant support even to get out of the bed, claimed researchers.