Strokes often leave people with reduced arm function, which is difficult to regain.
While physical therapy may help, full recovery is elusive and becomes even less achievable the more time passes after a stroke.
A new study documents what could be a breakthrough: Vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) combined with physical therapy produces significant improvement even years following a stroke.
In the United States, someone will have a stroke every
40 seconds. This adds up to about 795,000 cases each year.
While the mortality rate from strokes is high a person dies of stroke every 4 minutes many people survive but with lasting damage. About 80% of people who had a stroke lose some arm function.